The Lost Tales of Craig Tyler
by BigBadWolfTardis
Summary: The Doctor, Rose and Craig were always the stuff of legends, but even the most fantastic legends can get lost. Here are those lost legends of the time travelling trio and their friend Jack. A companion piece to 'Three of a Kind, The Stuff of Legends' including my OC Craig Tyler and a range of OC Aliens, Monsters, and Adventures not included in the main story.
1. The Sky Kingdom, Walking on Air

**And here's the first chapter of 'The Lost Tales of Craig Tyler' Hooray! So this is a companion piece to my other story called 'Three of a Kind, The Stuff of Legends' and stars the 9th Doctor, Rose Tyler, my OC Craig Tyler, and later Jack Harkness. These are adventures which I liked enough to write up, but decided not to put into the main story for various reasons. They all take place at different points in regards to Three of a Kind, The Stuff of Legends, and continuity in this is practically none existent, but fear not, I'll explain things that need explaining in my notes : ) **

**So this is the first adventure named 'The Sky Kingdom'. This was the first adventure I came up with for my Craig Tyler story, but I felt that The Blood Scales fitted better into the timeline of Three of a Kind, the Stuff of Legends after The Clockwise Man as opposed to this. I was going to add it later, but then I felt like it didn't really fit in properly later either, so instead I decided to start this story with it cause I liked it too much to get rid of ; ) In regards to when it happened, The Sky Kingdom is set between The Clockwise Man and The Blood Scales. Other then that, please note that Doctor Who is not owned by me, but Craig Tyler, The Family of the Tree and Airadrome all are ; ) I hope you enjoy!**

**...**

**The Sky Kingdom**

**The Sky Kingdom – Walking on Air**

The first thing Craig noticed when the Tardis landed was that the landing felt strangely cushioned, like there was something soft and squishy underneath it.

'Be careful when you walk out' the Doctor warned as he, Craig and Rose all headed for the door.

'Why? What's out there?' Rose asked curiously. The Doctor just grinned in reply, it was so excited that Rose and Craig couldn't help but grin along too.

'You're both gonna love this!' he beamed as he pushed the door open for them. Craig stepped out, only to fall flat on his face! No, not his face, something white and fluffy that cushioned the fall. His jaw dropped as he struggled to his feet, whilst Rose's eyes widened and the Doctor laughed at their reactions. They were standing, STANDING, on clouds! Clouds! All white and puffy and floating.

'Oh. My. God' Craig breathed out as he looked around. Instead of any solid ground anyway, the entire length of his sight was filled with pure white clouds, the sky above a beautiful calm blue.

'No, way!' Rose cried before she laughed.

'Yes way!' the Doctor laughed cheekily.

'We're walking on clouds' Craig laughed loudly as he tested it. It was like walking through boggy water, kind of, you just had to tread lightly to be able to walk on the semi-solid surface. He turned to see his companions had also got the gist of it, before he noticed the Tardis beginning to slip into the surface.

'Will she be alright' he nodded at the blue box.

'Yeah, if she falls all the way through the clouds she's programmed to float back up' the Doctor nodded.

'I still can't believe it, walking on clouds!' Rose giggled.

'So what is this place, my new planet?' Craig asked eagerly, his face falling slightly when the Doctor shook his head.

'Not quite, this is more like a continent then a planet, a cloud continent in space' he explained.

'So where are we then, and when?' Craig asked the Doctor excitedly. He always loved this bit. It might not be a new planet, but it was pretty damn good anyway!

'Airadrome' the Doctor beamed.

'Airadrome?' Craig repeated the word to which the Doctor nodded enthusiastically.

'Airadrome, or to be more specific, the Kingdom of Airadrome, where the clouds are so thick you can walk and even live on them! And that, over there…' he trailed off, pointing in the distance. Both Rose and Craig squinted to see it before they let out a collective gasp. Standing high and tall and on the clouds was a castle, but it wasn't just any castle. It was pearly white and made of swirling clouds, like a tornado only it wasn't spinning or moving. Billowing turrets and towers branched away, completely made of cloud. It was breathtakingly beautiful; it looked like something out of a fairy tale.

'That's the Palace of Airadrome, or as it's usually called, The Sky Kingdom' he explained as they looked at it.

'That's amazing!' Rose sighed as she took in the beautiful sight before her.

'Very' the Doctor nodded in agreement.

'So then, fancy meeting the Royals of Airadrome?' the Doctor asked, holding out both his arms. The two blondes laughed before they each took one, and ploughing their way through the thick puffy ground, they walked on air, through the clouds. Fantastic!

…

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh at the annoyed expression lining Craig's face as they reached the edge of the palace gates. Rose was trying hard to hide her giggles from her brother, but she wasn't very successful.

'It's not funny' Craig cried in annoyance. Five times he had fallen flat on his face, Five times! And the Doctor and Rose both thought it was hilarious! Well it wasn't! At least, not for him. both of them burst into fresh fits of laughter and he smirked as he climbed back to his feet and rushed them. Their expressions momentarily changed to surprize before they laughed as he bowled them both over, and the three of them fell into the fluffy surface.

'You know, this is pretty fun' Rose giggled, who had landed on her back and was spreading her arms and legs and moving them back and forth, making the indentation of an angel in the cloud, like you would in snow at winter.

'Maybe for you' the Doctor said as he climbed to his feet. He had face planted the cloudy surface, his head went straight through it and he pulled it out looking like he had a long white beard. Both Tyler's roared with laughter at the sight of their friend looking like Father Christmas, which he immediately brushed away. Oh this trip was so fantastic! But as always, something just had to spoil their fun, and it came with a loud shriek behind them.

'CA COWR! CA COWR!' a high pitched screech was sounding from somewhere near the gates further along from them, and it sounded very distressed, so the three of the hurried through the clouds as best they could, which wasn't exactly easy consider Craig was still tripping over every now and then, but soon enough they came to the source of the disturbance. And both the humans' jaws dropped at what they were seeing.

Standing at the height of a man, broadly built was a soldier, a soldier that looked exactly like a pigeon. His body was covered in glossy brown and white feathers extending down to his long tail, his face held a sharp beak of deep orange. His eyes were bright yellow, and his legs, which were human length, were in fact axe sharp talons. His wings were flapping about like a human was flap their arms in distress, and he continued wailing his bird like screeches. They noticed he was wearing a sort of blue soldier uniform over his wings and a matching hat was strapped to his head.

'ATTACK, ATTACK' he was screaming, and before any of them could ask him what was wrong, the air was suddenly filled with more voices.

'ATTACK, ATTACK' they were all yelling. Suddenly the castle made of white clouds changed to an angry red colour, the cloudy gates rising up around it and becoming black. It had lost its beauty in the shocking transformation. It looked like a grim and horrific place from a nightmare as lightning frizzled over it.

'What's happening?!' Rose cried in alarm. The Doctor just looked on wide eyes as suddenly the air was filled with more of the pigeon soldiers, in all sizes and colours, glossy black, rusty red, bronze and a few even silvery grey, all of the flying in the same direction, heading away from the palace.

'GET DOWN' he yelled, forcing both Rose and Craig to the ground and burying them in it as hundreds and hundreds of the pigeon soldiers shoot overhead like feathery bullets. Heading for what, they had no idea. But the Doctor thought they would most likely end up staying to find out. He sighed, maybe one day he'd be able to take his friends somewhere, without it ending up in a disaster. He could only hope.

…

Craig quietly peered up from his position on the semi-solid ground, his body mostly buried in the cold cloud as he saw a ferocious battle taking place in front of them. The pigeon soldiers were a few miles away from them, and they were hovering in the air whilst firing strange gusts of wind at something, beating their ways to summon up this method of attack. The wind seemed to look like golden dust, and when it hit whatever they were firing at it exploded like a golden bomb. But whatever it was they were fighting was fighting right back, and he could see them firing red bolts of lightning which cut through the air and taking several of the pigeon soldiers down, where they sank into the ground and vanished into it, clearly dead. Shots of the magical wind and red lightning were fired off into the air, exploding in a display of spectacular beauty, like a fireworks display.

'What's happening?! Doctor?!' he heard Rose yell over the sounds of the air battlefield. She screamed as a stray bolt of lightning landed near them, burning the cloudy ground in front of them a harsh black. They cautious shuffled backwards to avoid any more.

'I don't know' the Doctor called back.

They watched as the scarlet lightning triumphed over the golden wind, and the leading pigeon soldier, the first one they had seen, started yelling to his troops.

'RETREAT! CA COWR! RETREAT!' he was screeching, and the trio all buried their heads into the semi-solid cloudy surface as the bird army flew like daggers through the air overhead, and a moment later, there was nothing left but a ringing silence.

'What the hell were they?' Craig asked as he shakily got to their feet. He helped an obviously shaken Rose up as the Doctor clambered to his feet. He looked over in the direction of the fight just in time to see a sort of grey animal, definitely not a bird, vanish at out sight. Craig blinked, it had kind of looked like a dog, it definitely had four legs and greyish fur and a tail, but it was bigger, and anyway, how the hell could a dog have gotten up here?!

'At a guess, I'd say that those were a flock of creatures known as The Family of the Tree' the Doctor stated softly.

'And who are they?' Rose wanted to know, her voice a little weak due to the shock she had just had.

'The entire species is a family, a bird family, well, an alien bird family. They all live in The Sky Kingdom, and from the main family they branch out into different species of birds. Apparently Pigeons are Soldiers in it' the Doctor shrugged. Pigeon soldiers? Fantastic!

'And they're clearly at war, but who with?' Craig wondered aloud.

'I don't know what that fight was about, but those birds, they were wearing a blue uniform, that means they were the royal guard of the King of Airadrome' the Doctor stated as he looked out over the battlefield. There were large gaping holes in the clouds and puffs of the condescended water vapour hovered up over the actual surface. Some of the craters were fizzling with red sparks of static, and many of them were glittering gold. It was beautiful, but also so terrible. He frowned miserably, and Craig noticed this, causing the blonde's heart to drop. It was obvious his best friend was remembering his own days as a soldier, he time during the Time War. Craig resolved there and then to try and stop this war before it went any further, just so the Doctor wasn't constantly being reminded of it. And that was exactly what the three of them were going to do, starting at the Sky Kingdom.

**...**

**And there's the first chapter of The Lost Tales of Craig Tyler! YAY! So... walking on clouds? Yep, that idea came to me when looking at clouds out of a window. I was just going to scrap this story, but my thoughts kept turning back to it so I gave into it and came up with a proper adventure plot and began writing it up. And since most of my readers liked it when I came up with alien Blood Dragons, I hope people will like The Family of the Tree aliens too! I really hope you like the beginning of this, and review your thoughts about this or the accompanying piece Three of a Kind, the Stuff of Legend : )**


	2. The Sky Kingdom, King of the Nest

**And here's chapter two! I really hope you all like this chapter and the new character we see in it, which are King Eagleton, Queen Swenell, Woodrow, Parrodon, and Sparlo. I made them all up, along with The Smoke Wolves and Craig Tyler. The only thing in this I do NOT own is The Doctor and Rose Tyler. Please enjoy : )**

**...**

**The Sky Kingdom – King of the Nest**

After the initial shock of watching the battle, the Doctor, Rose and Craig were in for another one soon after. Their eyes widened as the grim and black clouded castle was changing back to its original dream-like state, its beauty restored instantly.

'Well, that's certainly an impressive trick' Rose softly commented as they looked up at the pure white cloud tower castle. The two men just silently nodded in stunned agreement. They stood still and just looked at it. Up close it was even more beautiful than it was from a distance. It took them a while to snap out of their blissful observation, but it was the Doctor that snapped out of it first.

'Come on. Let's go find out what that battle was about' he told them, gripping their hands and pulling them onwards. He hated fighting when it could be avoided, he had seen too much of it recently, done too much of it himself, and if he could stop a war from raging necessarily, it was his duty to the universe to help. He lead the Tylers in the direction of the main gate, which was also made of clouds but they had a strange sort of golden energy covering them, most likely to prevent anyone from simply walking straight through the cloud they were made from.

'So… how do we get in?' Craig asked slowly as he looked up at the golden gates. The Doctor was saved from saying he had no idea, for suddenly a jet of golden wind rained down on the three of them, blasting them away from each other. They all landed apart with a surprized 'ooh' of shock.

'What the hell?' the Doctor muttered as he looked up into the sky. Hovering above them was one of the pigeon soldiers, a brown feathered one flecked with black. He swooped down and tried to claw at them with his sharp talons.

'CA-COWR! CA-COWR! ENEMY AT THE GATES! ARK! ENERMY AT THE GATES!' he was screaming at the top of his voice, and once again the air was suddenly filled with more of the pigeon soldiers, but only about ten. They all flew down in a circle and surrounded them within seconds. As they threateningly raised their wings, no doubt to fire attacks at them if necessary, their faces all silently said one thing; 'Surrender or die'. The three of them quickly put their hands up by their shoulders in surrender.

'CA-COWR! THEY ARE ENEMY SPIES! ARK! ENEMY SPIES!' the pigeon who had sounded the alarm was shrieking at them. The others all glared menacingly at the three of them.

'No we're not, we saw the battle and were wondering what it was about, we're not part of it' the Doctor tried to convince them but it was no good.

'ARK! LIARS! THEY ARE WORKING WITH THE WOLVES! TAKE THEM TO THE DUNGEONS!' the pigeon soldier shrieked in response. The surrounding soldiers all began to gather the golden energy between their wings, ready to strike them where they stood if they didn't play ball.

'You just can't help but lead us into trouble can you' Rose sighed as two of the soldiers fired smaller jets of golden wind at the gates, causing them to glow even brighten before the light died down and the gates had vanished, allowing entry to the castle inside. The three of them let out a collective sigh as they walked towards their beautiful prison.

…

The Doctor was not happy. He had been herded into a darkened cell with had more cloudy bars as one of the walls, but since they had golden energy rippling up and down them, just like the gates, he had no way of escaping. So for the last hour he had been yelling, threatening, swearing and raging against his guard. He wasn't so much as concerned about himself, but Rose and Craig had both been taken to different cells and they had no idea why to act under these circumstances, hell, they weren't even on their own planet! Of course they'd have no idea what to do!

'ENOUGH!' his guard yelled at him as the Doctor continued shouting at the top of his voice. The Doctor had initially been surprised that his guard was not a pigeon like the soldiers, but closer to a Sparrow. He was shorter and built smaller, had brown and black feathers covering him, a short beak and shorter legs. He was wearing a metal helmet and was carrying a sort of golden energy rod under his wing.

'NO! It's not enough! I've been flung in here because I was standing near to a gate' the Doctor growled at him.

'You were put in here for acting suspiciously near the gates of the royal king's kingdom' the sparrow man sighed, brushing his face with his wing, clearly not in the mood for an argument. Too bad for him that the Doctor was in full argumentative mode.

'Yeah, and what were me or Rose or Craig doing that was so suspicious?' he challenged.

'Sparlo, I hope you're not talking to the prisoner' a stern voice spoke up, cutting the sparrow's voice off as he had opened his beak to counter the argument. Sparlo? So that was the guard's name…

The Doctor turned in his cell to see a like large bulky bird with bright blue feathers lined with red and yellow marching into the room. His beak was long and thin, almost like a drill and his neck seemed longer than the other members of the Family he had seen so far. This was neither a pigeon nor a sparrow, this was a woodpecker.

'No Woodrow Sir! I was just clarifying the reasons as to why this man is being held here' Sparlo was quick to point out as he stood up a little straighter. This Woodrow character was clearly higher up the chain of command than Sparlo.

'Oh, another argumentative prisoner, hmm? Well it doesn't surprize me, after all the others he was brought in with have been giving the other guards hell' Woodrow sighed. The Doctor laughed loudly, it seemed like Rose and Craig were managing both fine as well, and that certainly lifted his spirits a hell of a lot.

'Anyway, the king has demanded to see the three of them, so if you'd let him out please' Woodrow pressed on like he hadn't heard the Doctor's laughing outbreak.

'Right, out now' Sparlo ordered as he used his own energy to open the bars. The Doctor grinned slightly as he briskly walked out of his cell.

'Follow me' Woodrow ordered, and with a cheeky little wave at Sparlo, who let out a huff of annoyance at his attitude, the Doctor followed the woodpecker as he hovered a few inches off the floor as he led the time lord through the darkened cloudy corridors.

…

The Doctor was led into a large room with seemed out of context with the rest of Airadrome. Whilst the walls were still made of cloud, this room was properly furnished. The floor was covered in a pale blue carpet and darker blue curtains hung around holes in the wall with the Doctor supposed were windows, despite having no glass. Three golden chairs sat high and mighty and well-polished atop a small flight of steps, looking down onto the room. Other than that, a small fountain in the centre of the room shaped like a bird bath was the only other thing in the room, save a large picture hanging behind the thrones. In a sparkling golden frame was a painting of three birds.

One was a broad shouldered and sleek and shine black feathered bird. He had a kind but also commanding smile on his curved orange beak. His head feathers and beard were pure white, and it showed that his eyes were a pale yellow sort of colour. He was clearly the king, and his species was that of an eagle. The female woman next to him was completely opposite to the king.

The queen was slim and the purest white. In fact in comparison to the portrait to pearly clouds like grey and dull next to her. Her beak was a vivid orange colour and she had a main of feather flowing around her body, like hair. She had small black eyes and black marking around them like a mask. She was clearly a swan queen. The final figure had to be their daughter, and she was far more colourful then either of her parents.

She was smiling broadly between the two adults and looked to be a bird person equivalent to a teenager. Her feathers were a royal blue colour tinged with green, and running down her head with small black strands ending with little white sphere. Her tail expanded out around her, ending in spade shaped feather in an array of rainbow colours, forming a sort of bizarre eye pattern. This bird was clearly a Family of the Tree Peacock.

The Doctor studied the painting intently for a few moments and he was about to make a witty comment to his capture Woodrow, when out of a hallway leading into the room came the two people he had been kicking off about, Rose and Craig. He grinned at the sight of them, both unharmed.

'Doctor!' Rose cried as she ran over to him and wrapped him in a hug. the Doctor laughed and span her around, whilst Craig dashed over to him too and wrapped him in a hug of his own. The three of them laughed in relief, glad to see the others unharmed.

'Enough!' Woodrow snapped at them, mainly to remind them that they were still prisoners in the royal palace.

'Sorry' the Doctor said softly, bowing his head slightly, but he couldn't get that wide grin of his face. He put an arm around Rose's shoulders on one side, Craig's on the other. Suddenly the room was filled with another voice.

'SQUAWK! ARRR!' a voice yelled as a figure had begun flying into the room, only to tumble in the air and fall flat on his face. Despite being held prisoner, Craig and Rose were both across the room and helping the bird up by his wings. Woodrow had been weary of them moving so suddenly, but he sighed and wiped his wing down his face exasperatedly when he saw who the other bird was.

He was tall and slim and very brightly coloured. His main colour was bright red lined with golden yellow. There were green and blue flecked feathers with even a mix of purple. His long tale shone like a rainbow, and his face was a white colour. He was truly beautiful to look at, a wonderfully bright parrot.

'Oh, oh thank you' he groaned as he stood back up. Woodrow sighed in annoyance and hid his face in his wing, no doubt used to this antics of this seemingly clumsy parrot.

'What are you doing here Parrodon?' he asked with a sigh.

'Oh yes. Announcing the Majesties of Airadrome, The Royal King Eagleton and Lady Queen Swenell' he said proudly, standing up straight and proud. Instantly Woodrow stood at the attention pose, whilst the Doctor, Rose and Craig all anxiously watched the hallway entrance. In sweeping dark night purple robes lined with golden thread came another bird man creature, an eagle, the king from the painting, King Eagleton, a royal and golden crown on his feathery head. By his side was the beautiful swan, wearing lavender coloured robes treaded with silver thread and a silver tiara, Queen Swenell. Both bore depressed and solemn expressions. Parrodon and Woodrow both immediately bowed deeply.

'Psst, show your respect' Woodrow hissed at the Doctor, Rose and Craig, and realising that they were all staring at the royal birds, they all craned their necks, bowing their heads in respect. The King and Queen both stood before them, glaring down at them. It was obvious that they held great distrust for them right now.

'Arise' the King ordered and the looked up at him. The king looked them over before turning to look at Woodrow.

'And you say they were loitering around the gates?' the eagle man asked the woodpecker humanoid, and when said woodpecker nodded the king turned his gaze back to the three of them.

'What were you doing at the gates to my palace' he demanded in a soft but very commanding tone.

'We were just visiting the beautiful land of Airadrome but we saw a fierce battle take place and were curious as to what was behind it, your majesty' the Doctor answered in a very polite voice. Craig nearly had to hide a smirk, the Doctor was normally so rude it was hilarious to see him acting like this!

'A likely story…' Woodrow muttered.

'That's enough' Queen Swenell spoke in in a gentle voice and Woodrow instantly clamped his beak shut.

'So you claim to have no idea about the disarray and misery which has befallen my kingdom' the King asked them, clearly not believing the story they were telling him, even if it was the truth.

'None out all sir' Craig shook his head.

'Oh is that so… come with me, I want to show you something' he sighed at the blonde man, indicating with his wing for Craig to follow him to the window. When the Doctor nodded at him, Craig went over and looked out of the drafty window. The view was beautiful, looking out over the cloudy grounds of the palace, which rose up into the shapes of trees, bushes and even flowers in various places. Beyond the gates the clouds when on forever, it was so amazing Craig couldn't help but breath in awe.

'Indeed, the beauty of it can be overwhelming, but beyond my gates, what do you see?' the king turned to him. Craig focused his attention. The clouds seemed to rise up into sort of bumps, square like shapes… buildings.

'I see cloud buildings' Craig replied after a few moments.

'And none of my people?' the king pressed. Craig scanned the area, but there wasn't a single bird or in fact anything over then clouds, nothing living was stirring. The kingdom was totally silent.

'Well, no, there nothing… no one, just clouds' he noted after a few moments.

'Precisely, it normally heaving. The sky is filled with talk and laughter. My kingdom is under threat' the king hung his head sadly.

'Sir!' Woodrow protested. After all, they had yet to prove their innocence!

'Be quiet Woodrow, I believe them' Queen Swenell spoke up.

'Threat from what?' the Doctor spoke up, and King Eagleton turned back to look at him.

'The Smoke Wolves' was he simple answer and the Doctor's eyes widened in surprize.

'What are Smoke Wolves?' Rose quietly asked him.

'Creatures that are mutations. They live on a toxic planet called Blastrodon. The locals were super intelligent wolves called Wolverdeens, but they were poisoned when their nuclear power bases all exploded. The entire population was covered in toxic smoke which caused their DNA to inhibit the smoke itself and assimilate their genetic makeup to be like it. But they weren't corrupted evilly by it, their minds are still their own its just their bodies which became more smoke like, so what are they doing here' the Doctor wondered aloud.

'There are only a half of a hundred at most, but they have been causing more than enough trouble for Airadrome. My people are living in fear, and…' the king trailed off, his face lined with sadness and… desperation? He was clearly hurting over something very important.

'And they have our daughter, our beautiful baby girl' Queen Swenell said slightly choked up as tears came to the corners of her eyes.

'What?!' Rose cried aghast. That was everyone's worst fear! Having a loved one taken from you.

'Our majesties' palace and kingdom were very well known and holds a lot of influence over this region of space' Parrodon explained.

'The Smoke Wolves that came here are what you might call a rogue pack. They demanded that the King turned over his palace and his royal status so they could seek revenge on their people back on Blastrodon. Naturally our royal leader refused' Woodrow said the last part proudly, with an admiring look aimed towards King Eagleton.

'And let me guess. When you refused they kidnapped your daughter and are now holding her hostage to force your hand…err I mean, wing' the Doctor realised.

'Indeed, they have been attempting to blackmail us with our daughter's life' King Eagleton nodded solemnly.

'I'd more than happily give that blasted leader of theirs our castle' Queen Swenell muttered.

'Swenell I've told you I shall not do that. I will not give up my kingdom for it to be used to achieve something as petty as revenge' King Eagleton snapped.

'And what about our Pea, is she just a pawn in this petty game of your' Queen Swenell shrieked, flapping her wings in distress.

'NO! Of course she's not. I've got the whole kingdom working on getting her back to us, we WILL get her back' he aimed to encourage his wife. She sobbed slightly, but nodded. King Eagleton let out a sigh. It was clear that this stress was damaging their relationship, and it was sad to witness. But if Pea was to be returned to them, it would sure undo said damage.

'We'll help' the Doctor offered immediately. Of course he'd help! These birds were talking about going to war! If he could do anything to stop that, he'd more than gladly offer his help.

'Don't worry, I've seen the Doctor do such amazing things, if there's anyone who can help you, then its him' Rose said soothingly when the four birds all looked at him and surprize and disbelief.

'Well that's very compassionate and kind of you' King Eagleton admitted. It seemed that in that instant his distrust for them vanished, and he was willing to accept their offer of help.

'Hold on Sir! You can't seriously believe them!' Woodrow cried.

'Shut up Woodrow. I don't care if they really were just wondering what was going on today or if they were planning something else. Right now all I care about is my daughter and I'd accept help from the Devil if I had to just to get her back! So button it!' Queen Swenell raged and Woodrow instantly fell silent again.

'Yeah, stop being such a rainy cloud' Parrodon laughed.

'And no, I shall not just be letting them walk out of here as simply as that. They say they will help and I'm holding them to that, and should they try to escape without doing so, you'll bring them back here, and I'll deal with them myself' King Eagleton sounded stern. The Doctor realised that although he was more willing to trust them, he was far beyond naïve, and would not be happy with them if they didn't deliver. But he would, if only for Rose and Craig's sake.

'I'm going with them?' Woodrow asked in mild surprize.

'Yes you are, and so is Parrodon' King Eagleton nodded.

'Yes Sir, we won't let you down!' Parrodon smiled excitedly. It was clear he was very enthusiastic to help his king and to rescue his princess.

'You better not' Queen Swenell hissed. It was so obvious that right now she didn't care who she hurt or was rude too. She just wanted her daughter back.

'Come on you three, and don't even try to move out of my sight' Woodrow ordered the three of them as they set off into the hallway.

'Oh be quiet Woodrow, you're not fun and your voice is annoying' Parrodon laughed and the three of them quickly hid a smirk as they carrying on walking through the corridor whilst Woodrow scowled at his colleague. The Doctor smiled, if he could stop war from breaking out on Airadrome, that perhaps he could let go a little bit of the guilt of all those other terrible acts he had done. He just hoped he wasn't leading his precious humans into danger, but knowing himself as he did, he knew the chances of that with him around were really rather slim.

**...**

**And they were go! So I hope you like the plot behind this so far and my own characters! My favourite is Parrodon, he's just this life-loving-laugh-a-lot chap who can detense any situation with his eager attitude to things ; ) I hope you enjoyed and please, please review your thoughts and any ideas you might have for this or Three of a Kind, The Stuff of Legends! Read on, faithful readers : )**


	3. The Sky Kingdom, Sleeping Wolves

**And here's chapter three! Not much to say only that I hope you like, and please note that Doctor Who is not mine. I do own Craig Tyler, Airadrome, The Family of the Tree and the Smoke Wolves though. Enjoy : )**

**...**

**The Sky Kingdom – Sleeping Wolves**

As they reached the palace gates, the Doctor, Rose, and Craig were all torn between frowning in annoyance and smirking with amusement. They were listening as Parrodon continued his crusade in winding Woodrow up and much as possible, and it wasn't long before said Woodpecker man snapped. Know a barrage of insults and reprimands were being hurled between the two of them, whilst the three time travellers looked on.

'OK! That's enough!' the Doctor cut of Woodrow as his voice and language grew in intensity and obscenity.

'Don't we have a princess to find?' Rose reminded them.

'Yeah Woodrow' Parrodon stuck his tongue out at the woodpecker who glared furiously at the parrot man. Craig hastily stifled a laugh, that Parrodon was such a child, but it was funny!

'Enough! So where do we start?' the Doctor asked. He'd been thinking about it for ages, but he'd get to visit Airadrome, so he had no idea about its layout or locals.

'There's one person who might know where those wolves are hiding' Parrodon spoke up.

'Oh no you don't! We are not going to visit that lunatic!' Woodrow swiftly shook his head.

'You know you are talking about one of my dear, dear friends' Parrodon pouted.

'I don't care, all Owog does is rave about complete nonsense and make vague pathetic prophecies' Woodrow shot back and Parrodon gasped in shock.

'You take that back, Owog has been lots of predictions which have come true' he cried, a little overdramatically.

'Who IS Owog?' the Doctor wanted to know. He hated being left out of the loop like this! Woodrow sighed as he opened his beak to explain, but was cut off by an overly enthusiastic Parrodon.

'Owog is this really wise old owl that lives outside the main kingdom. He studies the future, and he's sooooo clever' he beamed.

'He's a hermit that has lost his marbles and thinks he can see the future by he can't see past the end of his beak' Woodrow snipped.

'He just doesn't like Owog because he told him his eyes are too close together and his beak is bigger than a flamingo's' Parrodon smirked and Woodrow huffed and rolled his eyes.

'Sounds like he might be able to help' the Doctor grinned.

'Or puncture even your ego with his beak' Craig said softly, causing the Doctor and Rose to laugh.

'So, are we going to go see him?' Parrodon asked excitedly.

'Oh if we really must' Woodrow sighed and the other four grinned in triumph.

…

'This had better be worth it, or you're telling the king' Woodrow hissed at Parrodon for the umpteenth time. The five of them had walked for ages for the clouds, which annoyingly for Craig resulted in his tripping up several more times, and were now reaching a sort of rift between the clouds. They seemed to change colour slightly, the pure white dulling slightly, not quite grey but not as pure as the cloud they had just been standing on.

'We've crossed the border' Woodrow softly commented.

'Owog lived up there' Parrodon added, pointing with his wing. A sort of cloud-tree rose up from the surface, twisting and swirling upwards until it became more box-shaped at the top and a gap opened up through the clouds.

'Come on then' Parrodon said brightly.

'If we must' Woodrow sighed again. He hovered up into the air and gently picked the Doctor up by his shoulders, whilst Parrodon lightly gripped Rose and Craig's arms and pulled them up to. The two birds carried them up higher and higher, all the way to the top of the cloud-tree. There was a small cave opening in the top of it with a ledge, which both birds landed up before releasing the time travellers.

The hidden chamber in the top of the tree was very dark and messy. Scattered about the room were candles, tables with rolls of parchment spread across them. a large blue teapot and cup sat in a corner, and a small glass orb with smoke inside, a crystal ball, sat in another. And right in the centre of the room, sitting with his wings at his crossed legs, was a large brown feathered owl, flecked with silvery and grey. His eyes were closed behind his crescent-moon shaped glasses and even with a beak his expression was obviously far away in thought.

'Sssh, we don't want to disturb his aura' Parrodon warned, but Woodrow merely rolled his eyes and stepped forwards.

'OI! OWOG!' he yelled rudely.

'Woodrow!' Parrodon hissed at him whilst the three travellers quickly stifled their giggles. The owl's eyes snapped open.

'Who's that' he demanded to know. His voice was slightly elder then the other birds, and was squinted down at them as he drew himself up to his full height.

'It is us Seer-Owog, Parrodon and Woodrow. We also bring with us three travellers who are assisting us' Parrodon stated boldly.

'Oh, still haven't rescued the princess yet eh?' the old owl guessed.

'No we have not, and what exactly are _you_ doing to help' Woodrow asked indignantly. No doubt he thought that everything being done to rescue said princess was already being done, and now some cheeky old owl had the nerve to tell him they were taking too long, the Doctor could almost laugh at his outraged expression.

'I am not involved; it is none of my business' Owog replied in a firm tone.

'I beg to differ, you may not live in the kingdom but you still are part of The Family of the Tree, it is your duty to help in the recovery of Princess Pea' Woodrow shot back, but Owog shook his head.

'My place is here, it is your job to rescue the Princess, that is _your_ duty' he countered.

'Well we were hoping you might be able to help' Rose spoke up as Woodrow opened his beak to hurl some counter-argument back.

'And who might you be my dear' Owog turned to her, his manner slightly politer now he wasn't talking to a certain arrogant and annoying woodpecker.

'Oh forgive me Seer-Owog, This is Rose Tyler, her brother Craig Tyler, and this man calls himself 'The Doctor'' Parrodon introduced them in turn.

'Hello' the Doctor grinned as Rose and Craig waved in greeting.

'Charmed' Owog nodded politely at the three of them.

'They are not even members of The Family, and yet they are helping us, what does that say about your loyalties' Woodrow sharply commented, taking the conversation back.

'My loyalty has nothing to do with it. It is not my place to involve myself in matters between our King and the Alpha Wolf' Owog sighed.

'And what do you know of this Alpha Wolf' the Doctor wanted to know.

'I can assure you I know…' Owog began to protest his ignorance but Woodrow cut him off.

'Don't tell and sell us that you know nothing. Now I don't believe for a moment that you can _see_ things, but plenty of people in the kingdom do and tell you plenty of gossip' he snapped.

'You know, you are very narrow minded' Owog shot back.

'Ok, Woodrow, can I have a word' the Doctor beckoned, and with a sigh Woodrow moved over to him.

'I think this will go better if you would stop yelling at him' he whispered. Woodrow looked mildly offended but ruffled his feathers, and without a word or glance at any of them, he briskly stalked back out of the room, no doubt sulking at the bottom of the tree.

'Why thank you for getting rid of that beastly bird' Owog praised. The Doctor nodded slightly in response.

'What we really need Owog is as much information as possible about the Smoke Wolves that you can give us' Rose asked politely in a gentle voice.

'Oh, it's not a happy tale I'm afraid. Nor can I guaranty its truth but I can tell you what I have heard' the wise owl nodded.

'Thank you' Craig smiled at him. It was good of this… bird man to help them, after the way Woodrow had treated him.

'It was a few weeks ago was a ship crashed into the beautiful lands of Airadrome' the owl began to explained when the Doctor cut in.

'It crashed, why?' he asked.

'That I am even less sure on, though perhaps the next part of my story would allude to that. The Smoke Wolves that are in Airadrome are not the entire Smoke Wolves species, that are a bad pack of a wolves that were due to be imprisoned back on their home planet, however at the last moment, they fled in a rusty old ship and fled here' Owog carried on.

'So the ship was too old and that's why it crashed' Rose guessed.

'I can only assume so my dear. Stranded and alone, the wolves sorted revenge, and attempted to threaten our King into handing over his kingdom and power. When he refused, the princess was stolen and is now being held hostage' Owog finished.

'But where though, why are the wolves hiding' Craig asked, and Owog turned to face him directly.

'The Big Bad Wolf is always amongst us' Owog's voice sounded different now, sort of controlled and not his own, just like Gwyneth had spoken when she was _seeing_. Craig gasped and took a step back, BAD WOLF, again! It was all over, following him everywhere! What was it though?

Thankfully the Doctor, Rose and Parrodon were all too intently listening to Owog to notice his reaction. The old owl faced them, and they all looked on in wonder. He was different now, not the slightly eccentric owl from before, his eyes were sparkling silver, his stance more rigid.

'War is coming to the kingdom you love' he whispered at Parrodon, who gulped fearfully. Owog turned his attention onto the Doctor.

'He must be saved from his terrible fate' he told the Time Lord.

'Who must be? Who's he? What fate?' the Doctor asked in confusion, but Owog didn't answer him, instead he focused on Rose.

'Your heart shall break from the love you feel, the love you gave them all up for' he told her.

'What does that mean?' Rose asked nervously. But once more Owog didn't reply, he turned and looked at her brother instead.

'He will find you, the man that will capture your immortal heart' he whispered at him. Craig's eyes widened in surprize and confusion, but he never got the chance to ask what he meant. For the elderly owl was now looking at the three of them all as a group.

'The song will change as will you all, becoming much more than what you once were. Your love will remain strong through time; your friendships will last across the endless space. The four humanoids in the little blue box. Because you are the children, the children… of time' he whispered before he staggered slightly and his eyes returned to normal.

'Sorry, what were we saying' he asked in a confused rasping voice. He didn't give any indication that he had any clue as to what had just happened to him.

'What did all that mean?' an alarmed Rose immediately turned to the Doctor. That had come on all so suddenly that practically none of it made any sense!

'I think he was _seeing_' the Doctor replied softly.

'We were talking about where we could find the wolves Seer- Owog' Parrodon spoke up quietly after a few moments of stunned silence.

'Oh yes, from what I've heard, the wolves run wildly through the Storm Meadows' Owog nodded.

'Oh no' Parrodon whispered, and the Doctor, Rose and Craig all frowned, very anxious about what these Storm Meadows were and why Parrodon was hesitant about them. And they were even more anxious about what Owog's predictions meant, and if they would really come to pass.

…

'What are the Storm Meadows?' was the first question off the Doctor's lips. After that little scene it seemed as though Owog had gained a splitting headache and so the group had hastily excused themselves. Parrodon had flown them down and they had met up with an even grumpier Woodrow, who had scoffed loudly when they had explained about what had just happened in there. They were now standing at the bottom of the cloud tree, working out what to do next.

'They're the bad lands. The dark clouds that couldn't be purified' Woodrow sighed.

'They're very dangerous, it can be a bit… unpredictable to walk there' Parrodon echoed with.

'Why's that then?' Rose wanted to know.

'Because lightning bolts can be fired up from the surface and it's hard to see them' the parrot bird elaborated.

'And where are they?' Craig asked.

'They are beyond Airadrome, right at the edge of the land itself, if the Smoke Wolves are hiding there, then our princess is in very great danger indeed' Woodrow stated solemnly.

'Then that's where we're going' the Doctor said determinedly. He had told the king he would find his daughter, and that's exactly what he planned to do.

'Then hold on tight' Parrodon said softly, and moments later Woodrow was carrying the Doctor whilst Rose and Craig were holding onto Parrodon's leg, and they were soaring through the air, above the clouds.

Looking down, the Doctor, Rose and Craig watched as the clouds below them turned to stone cold grey and the darkest black. Sparks and bolts of lightning rippled over the surface, the sound of thunder sounding loud through the air. The beautiful land was all but gone, replaced back gloomy, dangerous looking lands; they were already above the Storm Meadows.

'So if you were a wolf, where would you hide?' the Doctor asked aloud.

'There is a hidden cave at the top of that mountain' Woodrow pointed with his beak. Ahead of them was a huge mountain made off swirling grey and black smoke, rising up from the land.

'It's the perfect place to hide in these parts' Parrodon added.

'Then why didn't you already look here' Craig wondered aloud.

'We try to avoid these parts when possible, plus we had no intelligence that the princess was being held here' the parrot man explained.

'We still don't have firm intelligence if you ask me' Woodrow snipped.

'Well it's better than nothing' Rose shot back. She was getting really sick and tired of that woodpecker's complaining!

'I'm just saying it's not much to go on' he sighed as they flew higher and higher up towards the peck of the mountain. The two birds hovered to a stop, and the three human hopped down to stand of a thick black ledge. The mountain still extended high above them, but a gap opened in the surface of the mountain, with a slightly eerie red light pouring out of it.

'This is it, the cave' Parrodon whispered.

'Come on, quietly' the Doctor said in a hushed voice as they began to creep as silently as possible through the darkened cave, following the red light.

They walked for ages, further and further into the mountain, until they came to a large clearing in the centre of the cave. Rose hastily stifled a gasp. Scattered around the cave were dozens of furry creatures. Well, not so much furry, sort of a cross between fur and smoke. It was rippling from the main bodies of the creatures, which were a greyish colour and had four legs. Long bushy Smokey tails billowed out from behind them, and they had muzzles and snouts and dog-ish ears. They were all lying down, curled up, clearly asleep.

'The Smoke Wolves' Woodrow confirmed, as if there had been any doubt.

'You own Owog an apology' Parrodon quietly smirked at him.

'Yeah, but's what's that' Rose asked in a hushed voice, pointing at something in the middle of the sleeping pack of wolves. Four large bolts of pulsating red electricity were rising up from the surface and forming a cage, and in said cage was a stock still figure of a frightened young girl, or more accurately, a frightened young peacock. She was the princess from the painting, Princess Pea!

'It's the Princess!' Parrodon exclaimed, momently forgetting to be quiet.

'Sssh' Woodrow hurriedly hushed him. a nearby wolf snorted in his sleep and after a few tense second in which they feared he was waking up, he rolled over and his snores returned. They let out a relieved sigh.

'We have to get her out, any ideas' Rose asked the Doctor, who was already thinking up a plan. He silently brought out the Sonic Screwdriver and held it out for her and Craig to see.

'If I can get close to the cage I can use the Sonic to disrupt the current in the electricity and turn the cage off, it'll just be hard creeping past the wolves without one of them hearing and waking up' he told them.

'I'll fly you across' Woodrow replied instantly, and nodding, the Doctor gripped onto his legs once more, and soon they were hovering near the roof of the cave. Rose, Craig and Parrodon all watched from the front of the cave as the two slowly made their way over the sleeping wolves, until finally the began to descend in the centre, past the wolves and at the edge of the cage.

Upon seeing them, Princess Pea's eyes widened and a hopeful smile lined her beak.

'Woodrow, please tell me you're here for my rescue' she asked eagerly.

'Well of course Milady' Woodrow bowed humbly.

'Right, stand in the middle and stay still' the Doctor ordered and after a confirmative nod from Woodrow that she could trust him, Princess Pea did as she was told. The Doctor brought up the Sonic and held it near the red lightning. He held the button down and after a few minutes, the bars fizzled and faded, the cage was gone, and the princess was released.

'Oh thank you, thank you, thank you' she cried gratefully as she wrapped her wings around the Doctor.

'My pleasure, but now we have to get out of here' he told her with a smile as they broke apart.

'You go first Milady' Woodrow whispered, and nodding, the Princess flapped her wings and took off, with the Doctor hanging from Woodrow right behind her. and soon enough, the three of them had re-joined the others.

'Thanks for coming to rescue me, but… who are you?' she asked in confusion.

'This my Princess, Is the Doctor, Rose Tyler, and Craig Tyler' Parrodon pointed them out in turn.

'I thank you from the bottom of my wings, had you not come, I dread to think of what would have befallen me' she bowed her head to them in gratitude.

'Come milady, your father will be overjoyed to see you safe' Woodrow told her softly.

'My father?' she blinked.

'Indeed, ever since you were stolen, he had been working constantly in trying to find and save you. It is because of him that our three companions came to your aid' he nodded.

'Then to him I must go, come' she replied, and she began to lead the way out of the cave, with Parrodon and Woodrow protectively on both sides of. The Doctor, Rose and Craig all grinned, happy to have been able to help, and began to follow, when with a loud thud Craig fell over again.

'Oh, not again' he groaned. His eyes widened as he realised exactly what it was he had just done, a consequence far worse than falling over.

'Not great timing' Rose cried as all the wolves eyes opened, revealing them to be a reddish brown colour, glowing ever so slightly.

'You and your lack of balance' the Doctor sighed as he pulled Craig to his feet. The wolves all turned to face them, all of them glaring, their heckles raise threateningly.

'Well… it seems we have a few uninvited guest' the largest and meanest looking wolves hissed at them, drool dripping from his bared fangs.

'Sir, they have the princess' another cried at him.

'So they do, then you know what we must do now, ATTACK' he howled, and the six of them flinched in horror and fear as each and every wolves lunged into the air, leaping towards them, ready to rip them all to shreds effortlessly. SO NOT FANTASTIC!

**...**

**And there it is! So a bit of a cliff hanger there, plus some vague predictions about the future, and some spoilers of season two in them if you can work them out : ) Hope you liked it, and please review this, or the main story 'Three of a kind, the Stuff of Legends'. Read on : )**


	4. The Sky Kingdom, The Battle of Airadrome

**And here's the last part of The Sky Kingdom. So, a few fluffy moments and some violent ones, but an overall all nice ending for this adventure. Other than that, please note that Doctor Who isn't mine, but Craig Tyler is : ) Read on at your own risk, for the battle of Airadrome is about to begin...**

**...**

**The Sky Kingdom – The Battle of Airadrome**

'RUN!' the Doctor yelled, seizing a hold of Rose and Craig's hands and bolting as fast as he could. It was more difficult than normal to run, given the surface, but they had to stay ahead of the wolves, and they were getting closer all the time. They could see Woodrow and Parrodon escorting Pea across the skies ahead of them. They hadn't even noticed that they were falling behind. Suddenly Craig tripped again, dragging the Doctor and Rose down with him. They landed with a soft bump, but it was terrible time, for the next moment they were surrounded by the wolves.

They trembled slightly as they looked into the leader of the pack's eyes. He was glaring murderously at them, his teeth bared and drool slobbering into the fur on his muzzle. Their fur was bristling, their tails flicking about in a taunting threatening manner. They just stood there, relishing in the fear the travelling trio were displaying, for the wolves all knew, they had no means of escape.

'Oh god…' Rose whispered in terror.

'Doctor, what do we do?' Craig asked fearfully. He turned to look at his friend, and his stomach dropped as the Doctor held a solemn look.

'Nothing, there's nothing we can do' he whispered and Craig let out a gasp of fear. And that seemed to be the trigger, for all the wolves suddenly began howling in delighted victory.

'Look at them, so scared, poor little humans, so far out of their depth' the leader growled in his husky voice at them as he circled around them, playing his game before he finished all three of them. They all grasped each other hands as they laid on the cloudy surface.

'Out of their depth!' another chanted tauntingly. The wolves were all laughing a deep growling laugh, sending shivered up the trios spines.

'Let's finish them now, I'm starving…' a third hissed. Rose shuddered slightly, the three of them were going to be ripped apart and eaten by wolves! Space Wolves! Wolves made from Smoke, from Space! So not fantastic!

'Oh, but where's the fun in that, I say let's have a little fun with our 'friends' here first' the leader grinned wickedly at them, before he lunged forwards. He caught Rose's arm in his jaw and bit down. She yelled in pain as his fangs pierced her flesh before he withdrew.

'STOP IT' the Doctor yelled as one caught Craig's leg and bit down hard, before it too moved back. They weren't going in straight for the kill; they were just playing with them! And that made it so much worse!

'DOCTOR' Rose screamed as another slash through her hip whilst one caught Craig's wrist.

'STOP! DON'T ATTACK THEM' the Doctor pleaded. What made it worse what that the wolves were enjoying the reaction they were getting from him, and were focusing their attentions on Rose and Craig rather than he. He rushed forwards, grabbing Rose's hand and trying to pull her away, towards Craig, but it was no good; the wolves just pulled them apart.

He closed his eyes in despair. He had no idea how to stop this! And he had no clue as to when the wolves would finally end it for all of them! All he hoped was that his wonderful, bright, fantastic human wouldn't have to suffer this for long… and that made his stomach fall even more, wishing a quick and painless death on the two he had promised to protect.

He eyes shot open as an almighty explosion sounded from overhead. The startled wolves stopped their assault on the terrified Tylers and all of them looked up at the sky where the blast had come from. The Doctor laughed in relief. There in the sky was King Eagleton's army, being led by the hansom eagle himself. They were all throwing golden swirls of wind at the wolves from their wings, who snarled and their fur prickled before they all glowed with angry red auras and blasted bolts of lightning up at the attacking bird men.

'COME ON' the Doctor yelled over the sound of the gold and red attacks clashing and exploded against each over. He seized Rose's bloodied hand and Craig's chewed up wrist and dragged them across the area that was soon becoming a battle field. They yelped as another explosion, much closer to their heads, forced them flying to the ground, thankfully it was a soft landing for them though.

Gold air kept raining down whilst red lightning bolted up, and it was horrible! The cloud surface was blackening with the raw energy being displayed, and the occasional flaming burst came up from the surface. The wolves were howling in fury and blood and rage, firing with everything they had inside. They were successful in taking down several soldiers in just a few seconds, but the Family of the Tree was exactly that, a family, and they paid them back in kind.

'You're going nowhere' a voice snarled behind the three of them, and turning fearfully, they ducked as a wolf lunged at them, jumping through the air towards them, but too high and soared over them, only to be hit by a golden wind attack from above. He screamed in agony as it literally disintegrated him into nothing but golden dust. The three of them looked in horror and relieve at his golden remains.

'We have to get out of here' the Doctor whispered to the three of them as he pulled them lowered to the ground, narrowly missing a bolt of red lightning. This was crazy! And so dangerous! The attacks just kept coming and it didn't matter if they got in the way or not! But the Doctor refused to let anything else happen to his Craig or his Rose, they were far too precious to let a bunch of wolves get them killed. He hadn't being able to protect them before this started, but he would now, and the only way to do that was to run!

'Come on' he told them, grabbing their hands. They let out a collectively war cry as they sprinted through the clouds of smoke and ash and blood as fast as they could. They weaved through lightning and wind and chunks of fur and falling feathers, pushing through way across the battlefield. They reacted by stopping as a blast of red lightning landed in front of them, leaving a huge black crater. They hurried around it and leapt forwards as a massive explosion rang out just metres behind them.

The three of the fell to the ground, before they wearily picked themselves up and dragged themselves back to their feet. Turning, they saw that they had managed to reach the edge of the battlefield, but they weren't safe yet. The battle was raging, and bursts of power were flying in all directions. The sky above them was a mixture of scarlet and gold and fire, the cloud had lost its beauty, it was jet black and on fire, all around them burning and dying. Rose had tears streaming down her cheeks as they watched in horror as more and more soldiers were struck down, but it was still an even match, in those still alive and those who had died. Craig wrapped him arm around as he sniffled and wiped some tears from his own eyes, hugging her as she turning into him and began to cry properly. The blonde man's other hand was holding the Doctor's, who looked on silently, and Craig could tell why. That look on his face, he knew the Doctor well enough now to know he was remembering his time during the time war, and Craig let out a low sigh. This was what the universe was really like, it was raging and stormy and horrific and terrible, but it was also so, so amazing.

They heard a yell from above, King Eagleton's, ordered a surrounding tactic and the three of them watched as the pigeon soldiers tried to do exactly. Whilst the bolts of lightning were still being fired upwards, exploding like fireworks, the pigeon soldiers were circling overhead, occasionally returning fire, but focusing on trying to form a circle overhead. They were forced to break ranks several times to avoid being hit, and it took a while, before soon the remaining soldiers, which was a lot less than when the battle had started, managed to form a large overhead ring around the remaining members of the Smoke Wolves.

'FIRE' the heard King Eagleton screech, and like a gigantic halo, the birds all charged up their golden air and throw them downwards. They all combined to form a loop, which from the distance the Doctor, Rose and Craig were standing at appeared to get smaller and smaller as it surrounded the wolves, before it exploded with such a force the soldiers were all thrown backwards in the air, whilst the Doctor, Rose and Craig all clung onto each other as they were blasted up into the air, before another fifty feet away.

'Thank god we're on clouds' were Craig first stunned words after a few moments of silence. The entire area the battle had been taking place on he been blasted away, the cloud forced upwards into a sort of ridge, leaving a gigantic hole in the middle. And through said they could see, getting smaller and smaller, the wolves falling through space, most certainly to their deaths. The Doctor let out a sad sigh as the final howl faded.

'I should have stopped it' he whispered mournfully and guilty. This was what he did caused death and destruction wherever he went, and now he'd brought Craig and Rose right into it all. The guilt inside increased a thousand-fold as he thought of his two best friends in danger.

'Nothing could have stopped that, nothing' Craig whispered as he pulled his friend and his sister into a three way hug, and that was how they stayed for some time to come, holding each other for support and strength.

…

'My wonderful citizens' King Eagleton called down to his people a few hours later. He was standing on a large cloudy stage set up on higher clouds, whilst his subjects of all bird species and sizes looked up at their leader. Behind him was a large golden throne, with two slightly smaller ones on each side. These were being filled by a joyously tearful Queen Swenell and a beaming Princess Pea. Down on one knee before the king were the Doctor, Rose, and Craig, all smiling slightly.

'Today we lost many good people, many of the family, however I promise you they did not die in vain. They laid down their lies to help those that gave our princess, my beloved daughter, back to us' he called, as the birds all let out a victorious cry as said Princess Pea waved happily to some of their subjects.

'In honour of our brave heroes, I ask you all to bear witness to the birth of, Lord Doctor, Lord Craig, and Lady Rose, heroes of Airdrome!' he boldly said as his engulfed the longest feather of his right wing in golden air, before he gently touched the three kneeling figures before him. They all glowed with a warm glow, before it faded gently.

'LORD DOCTOR! LORD CRAIG! LADY ROSE! HEROES OF AIRDROME!' the entire audience cheered loudly as the three rose to their feet and waved down to their cheering for them.

'Now, my people! Let the celebrations, commence!' he called, and soon there was another loud cheer ringing through the air above the clouds.

…

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh. He watched as a beaming Rose was begin twirled around by a grinning Craig around as they danced in time with the quick playing music. All around him the birds were flapping their wings happily and dancing strange dances, but everyone seemed to be having fun.

He had really just wanted to get some peace and quiet after witnessing the battle, but when he saw Rose and Craig's eyes light up at the mention of a celebratory party, he just couldn't bear to be the one to disappoint them, he'd do anything to make them both happy.

So off he had took them, back to the Tardis where they had all got changed before re-joining in the festivities. Rose had changed into a pretty red dress and heels, her make-up matching and her hair tied back into loose curls which where licking at her bare shoulders. Craig had managed to convince the Doctor to wear a simple black suit, whilst he wore a dark forest green one.

'Lord Doctor?' a voice spoke up from behind him, and turning he saw Princess Pea behind him.

'Princess?' he raised an eyebrow curiously.

'As my saviour, I was hoping for a dance' she said, holding out a wing whilst smiling at him.

'Oh, sure, why not' he shrugged with a grin as he took her wing. The man and the bird began to do a slightly awkward slow turn on the spot in time with the new slower song they was being played.

'So, why did you help me father' she asked curiously.

'You both needed help, we could give it' he shrugged as the completed another circle.

'Yes, but to go to such lengths, even putting your follow lord and lady friends in danger' she pressed.

'I didn't mean to. I wished that hadn't happened' he said sadly, looking over at his two humans. They both looked so happy, he couldn't believe they had come close to being ripped apart by wolves only hours before. His eyes lingered on Rose for a moment longer before he turned to look back at the princess. He suddenly wished it was Rose he was dancing with, _her_ figure pressed up against him.

'The way you look at her, I think you'd do anything for her' the princess noted.

'Yeah, anything for my Rose' he whispered as the song ended and they ground to a halt in the spin. They bowed to each other and broke apart, and with a thank you, Princess Pea went on her way, leaving the Doctor wondering exactly how Rose Tyler had captured both of his hearts.

…

'Oh, my feet are killing me' Rose giggled as pulled her heels off of her aching feet.

'Yeah, dancing that much probably wasn't that good of an idea, but it was fun though' Craig grinned at his sister. The Doctor and they had had several goodbyes and thank-yous from the royal family, and eventually they had taken one last bow before they left the party behind. They were now standing outside the Tardis.

'Listen, I'm… sorry' the Doctor said guilty to them. They both looked at him in confusion and concern. His voice had sounded so raw and guilt ridden.

'About what?' Rose asked gently.

'I almost got you killed, _again!' _he cried in anguish.

'Oh Doctor, why do you always do this? It. Was. Not. Your. Fault' Craig told him firmly, leaving no room for argument, but of course that didn't stop the Doctor.

'But it was! I brought you here! I keep putting you both in danger!' he choked slightly.

'We came here of our own free will, and you didn't attack us, that was those wolves' Rose pointed out as she took his hand to comfort him. He was about to reply when a huge bang from over the palace drew their attention. Exploding in the air were huge golden fireworks. They were illuminating the clouds and were breathtakingly beautiful. They watched in silence as golden light filled the air for a few more moments.

'It's not your fault Doctor, and it never will be' Craig softly reassured his friend. Once more the Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Craig just held up a finger, and his closed it again, knowing it was pointing to try and argue his case otherwise. He smiled ever-so slightly at his male friend.

'You know something?' the Doctor asked them quietly.

'No, what?' Rose asked him.

'Even though I might not always be able to keep you safe, I want the two of you to stay with me forever' he smiled sadly down at them.

'Well that's good, cause none of us will leave the others behind' Craig smiled as Rose grinned. the Doctor nodded happily, and they all met in another big hug, before they entered the Tardis.

…

The two humans had immediately bid the Doctor a goodnight as they slowly walked down the hall, their mood tired from all the food and drink they had consumed at the party and all the dancing they had done, but the Doctor was too awake to sleep right now.

He let out a sigh, he just couldn't help but blame himself over the way the wolves had attacked Rose and Craig but not him. It was like the universe was spelling it out to him, taunting him with the fact that one day, possibly even soon, one or both of them could be ripped from his life, and he wouldn't be able to stop it. That a big BAD WOLF could just rip them away.

NO! He would stop it! He would fight and kick and scream and die before anything got his Rose or his Craig. He would keep them safe. He shook his head. He just wanted something peaceful to do tomorrow after that day. He had promised Craig a planet, and in all honesty he wanted to take his friends to new and usually places like Airadrome, but for now it could wait. He just wanted a bit of peace on earth. Where was peaceful? The pictures or movie were always quiet and void of trouble. But those screens hurt his eyes, they were too big and fuzzy! Where else? The theatre… yeah, he could take them to see a show… a show with Marilyn Monroe!

**...**

**And that's a nice ending to fit back into the main timeline. So in regards to this, the Blood Scales is just about to happen in 'Three of a Kind, The Stuff of Legends'. So the Doctor is starting to feel something for Rose, but any real romance is a while of yet, sorry! Hope you enjoyed and please review!**


	5. The Blame Game, Real Gaming Experience

**Hiya! So a little Time Jump from the last chapter. This adventure is called 'The Blame Game' and is set between 'The Long Game' and 'Vanished' of the main story. I decided not to put this in the main story A) Because the name is so similar to the last advenutre, B) It seemed a little too fluffy to include, and C) It's sort of too similar to 'The Unicorn and The Wasp'. But as usual once an idea about an adventure gets into my head, it won't stop haunting me until I've wrote it up, so here's the second lost tale ; ) Please note that whilst The Blame Game and Craig Tyler are owned by me, Doctor Who and its material are NOT! Hope you enjoy!**

**...**

**The Blame Game**

**The Blame Game – Real Gaming Experience**

The Tardis landed with a small bump in a rubbish ridden alleyway, and moments later the Doctor, Rose, and Craig all stepped out. Immediately Rose grinned and set off at a brisk walk, her destination clear in her mind already. She was wearing a bright red T-shirt with a big pink heart on it and black jeans.

'Oh, how nice' the Doctor commented, looking around at the rubbish-bags and bins around them. He was dressed in his leather jacket and black trousers and a blue jumper.

'Oh stop ya moaning would ya' Craig chuckled at him as they begin to set off after Rose. Today he was wearing a deep purple shirt over a white T-shirt and blue trousers. The Doctor had been complaining all morning since Craig had suggested that Rose go see an elderly friend of hers, and when her face had lit up the Doctor had been unable to refuse or tempt them with somewhere else.

'I hate doing visits, they're so…' he struggled to find a word bad and serious enough to describe it as they rounded a corner into a quiet street. Rose was already at the other end, about to turn into an old shop which had been on the corner for years.

'Domestic?' Craig laughed.

'Exactly' the Doctor as they made their way up the street.

'Yeah well, after Adam I thought it would be good for her to see a friendly face' Craig shrugged with a scowl. He was still pissed off about what Adam had done, he hoped that head of his was discovered straight away, it would serve him right anyway!

'She said she was fine' the Doctor exclaimed, slightly annoyed.

'She was betrayed! That hurts no matter what anyone says' Craig countered as they drew level with the shop. 'GOLD'S ANTIQUES' a black and white swung overhead slightly in the breeze.

'Yeah, yeah that's true I guess' the Doctor gave in with a sigh. He knew what it was like to be betrayed by someone close to him.

'So who is this guy then?' he asked.

'The man who runs it, Mr Gold, he helped Rose out once when we were little, got rid of some bullies chasing her through the street, and since them they were friends' Craig explained as he pushed open the wooden brown door and with a tinkle of a bell they stepped over the threshold and looked around.

The shop was little and crowded with shelves, all lined with various types of objects. Teapots and cups, clocks, mirrors, lamps, all sorts of things. It was clearly a little back-street junk shop. The Doctor frowned. He was a time lord, he could see all these things in their own time whenever he wanted, and now he was standing in a junk shop, how had his life could to this?

He looked over at Rose who was grinning as she dinged the bell on the counter enthusiastically whilst Craig looked around the shop. Oh, that was how his life had come to this; those two silly wonderful humans that he'd stumbled across and found so much sunshine to brighten up his darkness. That was why he was here, because when they were happy he was happy.

'Rose my dear, is that you' an elderly voice asked, and turning around, the Doctor saw a little man, smaller than Rose even, with grey wispy hair and wide round glasses wearing a brown apron over a blue shirt and trousers.

'Mr Gold' Rose greeted him cheerfully.

'Aha, oh my dear I thought you had perished, I'm so glad that's not the case' he greeted her with a hug.

'Perished?' the Doctor whispered in Craig's ear questioningly.

'We disappeared for a year, remember' Craig told him somewhat testily. He was still a little annoyed by the fact that practically everyone he knew had thought he and Rose were dead.

'Ah, sorry, forgot' the Doctor nodded.

'Oh and Craig's here too, come here my boy' he noticed the other blonde and saw was hugging him too.

'Nice to see you again Mr Gold, it's been a while' Craig smiled down at him.

'It has been a while, and for that reason I must insist that you stay a while, I want to hear about where you have been, oh, sorry, I didn't see you there, who are you?' he finally spotted the Doctor.

'I'm the Doctor' the time lord smiled, shaking the sweet old man's hand.

'Mr Gold' he smiled in reply.

'Pleasure, you know I could murder a cuppa' the Doctor suggested. He hated sitting down and drinking tea and all that _human_ stuff, but Rose's face clearly said she wanted to stay and catch up with

'Excellent idea, I'll just put the kettle on and then we can have a nice chat' he smiled before he went out the door again.

'So, catching up with old friends, you're so _domestic_' the Doctor teased, looking at some of the things on the shelves, examining a blue teapot.

'Shut up' Rose laughed whilst Craig chuckled.

'No chance' the Doctor countered smugly, picking up a funny sort of box. It was wooden and had a large purple jewel on the top, with strange little encryptions around the edge of it.

'Look at this' he said to Rose and Craig, who both moved over to his side and peered at the box in his hands.

'What is it?' Rose asked curiously.

'No idea, but it won't open' the Doctor said as he tried to force it open. There was a hinge on the back and a split in it so it definitely could be opened, it just wouldn't.

'Move aside, this is a woman's job' Rose smirked, placing her hands over the Doctor's. Together they tried to prise the box open. But no matter how hard they tried, it simply wasn't opening.

'No bad we don't have a woman here to help then' Craig laughed as he placed his hands on the box and tried to help. Suddenly, the jewel on the top burned a bright white.

'What's happening?' Craig asked fearfully. But the Doctor didn't get the chance to answer, for suddenly the light flared out and blinded them all, and with a whoosh of air, their feet left the ground and they were all falling.

'DOCTOR' the Doctor heard Rose scream before he was consumed by darkness.

…

Craig groaned slightly, rubbing at his head as he tried to sit up. He looked around at his surroundings. He wasn't in Mr Gold's shop anymore. He was in a very dark room. He drew a nervous breath when he heard something next to him, but breathed in relieve when he heard the sound of the sonic screwdriver buzzing.

'Doctor?' he asked quietly.

'Craig, thank god you're here too' the Doctor's voice sounded through the darkness.

'Where are we?' he asked nervously.

'No idea, but I don't think we're in London anymore' the Doctor solemnly replied.

'Where's Rose?' he asked quietly, but the fear for his sister was clear in his tone.

'Sorry, I'm here too' her voice suddenly came from somewhere to his left.

'Well thanks for saying' Craig snapped slightly.

'Doctor, how did we get here?' Rose's voice asked.

'That box, I think it brought us here, wherever here is' the Doctor's voice stated.

'Well are we going to just sit here in the dark or try and find a way out' Craig hissed to them both. he wasn't sure what it was about the dark that made you talk quietly, but maybe it was just his experience at this travelling, talking loudly would be foolish.

'Hold on just… a … tick' the Doctor said and the sound of the sonic could be heard again. Suddenly Craig blinked and shielded his eyes as a bright lamp came down, and when his eyes adjusted to the new brightness, he could see the Doctor had used the sonic to turn the light on. He looked around. They were in a very simply room, with only a table in it. And on said table was a scroll. There wasn't a door or any windows, no way in or out, so how had the box brought them there?

'No doors or windows' the Doctor noted aloud.

'Just this' Rose echoed with, standing up and picking the scroll up off the table.

'Instructions?' Craig asked as he jumped to his feet too.

'let's have a look and see' the Doctor said as she untied the string binging it and unravelled it. She began to read aloud.

_'Forever inside this game you'll stay,_

_If you chose to refuse to play,_

_Solve the clues and you'll be free,_

_Suspect, Weapon, Room, get right all three,_

_Get it wrong and victim's fate will be yours the same,_

_The next player will be solving your death for their game_' she read to them.

'What the hell does that mean?' Craig asked bewilderedly.

'Hush a minute, just let me think' the Doctor, and both Tyler fell silent, just watching his mind at work.

'Of course!' he exclaimed after a few seconds.

'Of course what?' Rose asked intrigued.

'I've heard of these games which can trapped you inside them, that box in the shop, it must be one of them!' he beamed.

'And we're inside it?' Craig asked in frustration, he couldn't see what was so good about THAT.

'Yep, and to get out, we have to finish whatever game it is we're in' he nodded, happy to have already figured out the answer. Almost as though the room had heard him, a door suddenly appeared in the wall, most to their surprize.

'See, since we get what we have to do it's starting the game up' the Doctor explained as he grabbed the golden handle and pulled the door open. On the other side was plain white corridor, another door at the far end, and as one, the three stepped through the threshold into the new corridor, only to be blinded by another white light, only this time it was coming from them themselves.

…

'What is it now?' Rose cried as the light faded down again. She gasped as she looked down at herself. She was wearing a completely different outfit. Her shirt was black and her skirt was a sort of greenish tweed material. Her long jacket matched it perfectly, as did the tall cap on her head. Her heels were knee length and black, and her hair was pinned back in a bun behind her head. Around her waist was a thick brown leather belt, which strangely enough had magnifying glass hanging from it. She looked over at the Doctor and Craig, only to see that they were also dressed differently.

The Doctor was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers. Over the top he wore a long greyish pink tweed coat, and tipped down over his head was a black hat at an angle, hiding some of his face. Craig on the other hand was wearing a grey waist coat and trousers with a matching suit jacket. His hair was hidden by a brown hat, like the Doctor's, and he wore a red bow tie around his neck. They all looked down at themselves in wonder.

'OK, so what's going on now?' Craig asked; his voice slightly different to normal. It was like a different accent was under his normal voice, a German accent.

'It must be part of the game, this entire place is some kind of pocket dimension' the Doctor replied, and like Craig, a different accent was in his voice, his being Italian, but it was less prominent than Craig's German one.

'So it's changed our clothes and voices' Rose asked, surprized to hear herself speaking with a upper-class London accent, close to her normal one but also noticeably different.

'Yep, the game must give you a new persona to follow through the game, let me see…' he trailed off, rummaging through his new coat's pockets. He grinned after a moment and pulled out his sonic and psychic paper. He opened the paper to find words written on it.

'Here, according to this message we are Doctor Marple, Sherlock Rose and Craig Poirot' he grinned at them.

'What, as in Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot?' Rose asked incredulously. The Doctor just nodded in reply.

'So, we are dressed and sound like three detectives, so for this game we're stuck in, we have to be detectives' Craig thought aloud.

'Probably' the Doctor nodded.

'And to start the game we…'

'I think we have to go through that door' the Doctor pointed at the door at the end.

'We come on then, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go home' Rose said determinedly as they began to walk forwards.

'Be careful, if we loss we'll be trapped here forever' the Doctor reminded her as they came to the door. They all took a collective breath, before the Doctor pushed open the door.

…

'And might I introduce our special guests, Doctor Marple, Sherlock Rose, and Craig Poirot' a loud posh voice greet them as they stepped into a new room. The sound of applause followed the man's voice as they looked around. They were in a sort of living room or a study, with a highly polished wooden floor and white walls. A table stood in the corner with food and drinks on it, and a large white sofa and chairs were scattered about. They looked around at the various people in the room.

There were ten in total, including them. The man who had introduced them was dressed in a black shirt with black trousers. He was wearing a black suit jacket, and even his hair was black and wavy, though his skin was pale.

A woman was serving food to the others. She had steely grey hair curled under a white maid bonnet. Her long apron was white, under a black maid's dress. She was carrying a tray around, offering it around to the others.

On the sofa sat two women and a man. The woman on the left had long brown hair under a sort of blue turban. Her long dress and expensive looking jewellery were all blue, as was her heavy makeup. A feather bower of blue peacock feathers was wrapped around her. Next to her in the middle sat the man, who was dressed in a yellowish mustard colour suit. His chest and arms were heavily muscular, and his short hair was a golden yellow colour. The other woman, to the far right, had deep red hair which licked at her bare shoulders. Her short dress was red, as with her high heeled boots. Her handbag and lipstick were all of the scarlet colour.

The other two people in the room were men. One, sitting in a chair left of the sofa, was dressed in a suit, bright green in colour. His face was lined with wrinkles and his hair was wispy an d grey. A large golden cross was hanging around his neck, sitting on his chest. The other man had wavy brown hair and looked short and weedy. He was dressed in a vivid purple jacket and trousers. His eyes were behind large round glasses, he looked pretty harmless.

The Doctor, Rose, and Craig all smiled around politely at the group before them.

'I'd like to thank you so much for attending my little week-end get together as our special guests, my name is Doctor Black. After the party I'm sure Mrs White will gladly show you to your rooms' the man dressed in black greet them, wringing their hands enthusiastically.

'Of course sir' the maid woman, the one dressed in white nodded her head, albeit slightly bitterly.

'So, introductions, this is my good wife, Mrs Peacock' he pointed at the woman dressed in blue.

'Absolutely spiffing to meet you' she smiled at them whilst the smiled politely back in return.

'This strapping chap is the Colonel, Colonel Mustard' Doctor Black indicated the man in yellow.

'Reporting for duty' the muscled man chuckled in his deep voice.

'This is the lovely Miss Scarlet, an absolute 'Must' of the social scene' Doctor Black pointed at the young woman in red.

'Oh I was delighted when I received your kind invitation' said woman smiled at Doctor Black, almost seductively. He smiled but swallowed deeply before turning to the man in green.

'This is Reverend Green' he bowed his head politely.

'Pleasure to meet you, I hope your journey here was blessed' he smiled up at them.

'And this little man is my partner in research, Professor Plum' he nodded at the man in purple.

'How do you do?' he asked nervously. He seemed a little resentful about being called 'little man'.

'Right, now that we're all acquainted, let's get this party started' Doctor Black said happily, and soon light music became playing from an old gramophone in the corner. The other guest began to either dance or chat amongst themselves.

'Come on' the Doctor whispered to Rose and Craig, leading them over to the food table so they could talk quietly.

'OK, explain now, those people are all the characters out of the game Cluedo' Rose said in a firm voice.

'Well, this is one of The Psychic Games, made for a more 'real' experience far across the universe. This one ended up on earth and must have modelled itself and the nearest earth board game' the Doctor theorised.

'So what do we do?' Craig asked.

'This is a game, so it's obvious. To escape here, we have to solve the murder' the Doctor whispered to them.

'In Cluedo, the victim's always Doctor Black though' Craig noted aloud.

'And look at him now' the Doctor ordered, and turning, Rose and Craig watched as he headed for a door.

'Just off to get some wine for a toast' he happily called back to his guests before he closed the door behind him. Instantly, the entire room went dark, pitch black darkness impossible to see through before the lights were back on. Strangely though, it seemed that only they had noticed it. The other guests were in different positions and talking to different people, but it seemed they hadn't even noticed the change.

'What was that?' Rose asked quietly.

'It must be to stop us from seeing who left after him' the Doctor shrugged.

'So why didn't they see it?' Craig wanted to know.

'Well, these are just figments of imagination, characters in a game, they might look real but they're not. Whenever a new person enters the gamer, i.e. us, it creates the party scenario and selects a different combination of who, what, and where each time' he explained in whispered before Mrs Peacock's loud voice cut over him.

'I wonder where Doctor Black has got too, he shouldn't be missing out on all the fun' she mused to everyone.

'I'll go and find him Ma'am' Mrs White offered before exiting the door.

'Brace yourselves, I think the real game is about to begin' the Doctor told them.

'Only you would pick up an old box and get us sucked into a game' Craig sighed, just as the door burst open and a very pale Mrs White came into the room, screaming fearfully.

'DOCTOR BLACK! THE CELLAR! MURDER!' she shrieked. In an instant all the guests were heading through the door, and following behind, the Doctor, Rose, and Craig hurried down a darkened hallway to a door, and going down the stone steps into the cellar, the party emerged in the cellar. Lying on the floor in a pool of blood was Doctor Black, faced downed. A smashed bottle of wine lay not far away.

'Oh my goodness, how could this have happened?!' Mrs Peacock sobbed as she burst into tears.

'It's simply awful' Miss Scarlet said softly.

'By the saint's, bless his soul' Reverend Green held up his cross.

'My poor friend, who could have done this' Professor Plum exclaimed in a shocked voice.

'I think that's for us to find out' the Doctor told them all.

'Come on everyone; let's go back to the study to get to the bottom of this' Rose started ushering the shocked guests out of the room. They hastily went back up the steps, as to leave the room undisturbed.

'Let the game commence' an eerie voice floated down from above, but as with the darkness, only the Doctor, Rose and Craig could hear it. The Doctor's stomach turned slightly, he had to solve this and win the game, otherwise the three of them would be next. And there was absolutely NO way he was going to let some stupid games kill his best friends! No way at all.

**...**

**And there's the first chapter of The Blame Game. I liked the idea of this enough to write up the story, but it just seemed a little to funny of an idea to have in 'Three of a Kind, The Stuff of Legends' so I decided to include it in here instead. I hope you liked it and please review your thoughts about it : )**


	6. The Blame Game, Suspects and Weapons

**Hello everyone! I'm so sorry about making you all wait so long. It's just I've got work, coursework, Driving Lessons (And my test coming up), family stuff and writer's block. So it's been a difficult start to the year, but hopefully it'll finally start to calm down. Here's part two of the Blame Game, which I own along with Craig Tyler, but I do NOT own Doctor Who. Enjoy : )**

**...**

**The Blame Game – Suspects and Weapons**

'If you could, in your own words, please tell us the events leading up to Doctor Black's death' Rose asked the man sitting across from her politely. After having a quick look at the scene and more significantly at the body, the Doctor, Rose, and Craig had decided to interview all of the suspects before too much time had passed. So now they were sitting back in the study, their first suspect in front of them, the others were waiting in the hall outside.

'Certainly' Colonel Mustard said in his deep voice. He sat up in his seat a little straighter and began to give his version of events.

'I was talking with the most charming Mrs Peacock when Doctor Black left the party to get some wine for a toast. But then I remembered that I'd forgotten to put my medals on. I immediately hurried up to my room to attach them' the man dressed in yellow plucked at several large golden medals pinned to his chest as he explained.

'I then proceeded back to the party and resumed my chat with his good wife' he finished.

'How long would you say you were gone for?' Craig was the one to ask.

'About five minutes, if that. Mrs White came back into the room and I went with everyone else to the cellar where we saw poor Doctor's Black body' he bowed his head in respect. Rose's eyebrows rose up her forehead. 'His good wife' and the 'Most Charming Mrs Peacock' were odd ways of describing a murdered man's wife, unless he knew her a lot better than he was letting on…

'Right, well thank you Colonel Mustard, if you could please send Doctor Black's assistant Professor Plum in' the Doctor indicated he could leave, and nodding politely, Colonel Mustard left the room, and moments later a slightly nervous Professor Plum entered the room and took the vacated seat.

'If you could, please describe your relationship with Doctor Black prior to his death?' Craig started off this time.

'Well he was my research partner' Professor Plum stuttered out, a stutter which the Doctor was quick to notice. So Professor Plum was nervous was he… interesting.

'Researching what?' Rose wanted to know.

'Oh this and that, mainly medicine enhancements' he shrugged.

'And what was he like, personally?' Craig asked. Something about this man nagged at the back of his mind, he just wasn't sure what it was.

'Well, put it this way, he's not what you'd call a responsible or professional man' the man dressed in purple almost laughed.

'In what way?' Rose asked curiously.

'Well, firstly he's way with women. He was always reducing them to nothing but objects for pleasure, and if you ask me, I'd say he always had more than just his wife in tow' he said darkly.

'Well thank you, that's an interesting insight' the Doctor said, indicating the end of the conversation. Professor Plum practically jumped to his feet.

'If you could send Mrs White in now' Rose requested, and with a feebly nod, he almost fled the room.

Seconds later, Mrs White shuffled into the room, her head bowed in respect of them. She neatly lowered herself into the chair before she looked up at them. the Doctor noted that she had a bandage around her hand, but chose not to comment on it for now.

'Please could you give us a little bit of background about Doctor Black?' the Doctor requested from her. Judging by her age she had clearly been here a good few years and would therefore be ideal to get a good judge of Doctor Black's character.

'Oh, he might be Mr charming in public, but he's a nasty little man underneath all that Sir' she told them, somewhat hateful in her tone. The three traveller's eyebrows all shot up, surprized by her ill-talking of a man who had just been murdered.

'I take it you're not his biggest fan' Craig commented.

'He was brutal, always shouting and giving out punishments. One time a young boy from the village broke a window with his cricket ball, Doctor Black only went and caned him, and if that wasn't enough, gave the poor boy a good spanking too. Oh he was in tears before he ran out of here' she shook her head in disgust.

'Mrs White, we know he was murdered, who do you think did it?' Rose asked the elderly woman gently.

'If I were you, I'd talk to that woman in red, Miss Scarlet. Money-grabbing gold digger if ever I've seen one' the old maid spat in revulsion.

'Miss Scarlet, you mean she and Doctor Black was having an affair?' Craig asked.

'Well I don't know for sure, but she was always trying to charm him, and more often than not he wasn't trying to resist if you catch my drift' she nodded slowly.

'Ok, well that's all for now, if you could send her in next' the Doctor asked of her.

'Of course sir' Mrs White nodded, getting up and leaving the room. Moments later she was replaced by Miss Scarlet.

'Miss Scarlet, were you and Doctor Black an item?' Rose asked rather bluntly. There was something about the woman that rubbed Rose up the wrong way. And the slutty short dress wasn't creating an alternate image from what Mrs White had portrayed

'Excuse me? No we must certainly were not and what the hell is that to you anyway?!' Miss Scarlet snapped.

'We're trying to solve his murder here, a bit off help on your part might be nice' the Doctor told her.

'Even so, no, I was not involved with Doctor Black' Miss Scarlet shook her head, whilst the twirled a strand of hair around her finger. The Doctor frowned; playing with your hair was often a sign that you were lying, interesting…

'So what happened tonight, from your point of view?' Craig asked her.

'I was talking with Reverend Green and Doctor Black when the good Doctor left to go get more wine for a toast. I then left myself to go to the toilet and freshen up a little. On my way back downstairs I saw that the door to the room I was staying in was open, even though I'm positive that I had shut it, so I went in there to investigate. When I saw that nobody was in there and that there didn't seem to have been anything taken I shrugged it off and returned to the party. I had only been back a couple of moments when Doctor's Black maid returned and informed us all of the murder' Miss Scarlet told them.

'All right, thank you' the Doctor nodded for her to get up.

'Could you send in Reverend Green please?' Craig asked her, and nodding the young woman soon left the room, before seconds later Reverend Green had taken her place and was sitting opposite them, smiling politely at them, almost too politely.

'Reverend Green, could you please tell us who **you** think could be responsible for Doctor Black's untimely demise?' the Doctor asked. The old reverend seemed to pause in thought for a moment, contemplating his answer no doubt.

'Well far be it for me to speak ill of the dear departed, but Doctor Black had a… shall we say messy love life. One which was no doubt heading towards something like this'

'Heading to his murder?' Craig asked with raised eyebrows.

'Well, it is not inconceivable that other's emotions would run high and get the better of them, a lover's partner for example' the reverend shrugged.

'So you think that the Doctor was killed by a jealous lover?' Rose noted aloud and the elderly man nodded.

'I'm saying its possible, but I do not wish to speculate on such things, that is God's duty and not mine' Reverend Green told them firmly.

'Right, well I think that's everything, thank you Reverend Green, if you could send Mrs Peacock in to see us, if she'd alright that is?' the Doctor asked of him, and nodding the old man left the room. Moments later, sobbing into a handkerchief quietly, came Mrs Peacock.

'How would you describe your husband if you had too?' the Doctor asked as the woman draped in blue took the seat behind the desk the three were at. Her hands fidgeted slightly in her lap before she looked up at them, tears still shining in her eyes. Rose felt a small wave of guilt hit her, they were questioning the widow after all, but then again, if they were to find out who did it, they needed to talk with her.

'Oh, my husband was kind and gentle and loving, most of the time…' she trailed of, lost in a thought.

'Most of the time, not all of it' the Doctor picked up on. He took extra notice of her words, they could be looking at the person with the most likely motive here.

'Well, my husband has not always be faithful if you know what I mean' Mrs Peacock sighed softly, before covering her eyes with her hands as fresh tears rolled down her face.

'You mean he's been playing away?' Rose asked as gently as she could. The poor widow took a deep breathe, nodding her head as she continued.

'My husband is what you might call a Bad Wolf' she gave a watery chuckle. Rose blinked. Bad Wolf… she knew those words from somewhere. That painting in 1924… that had been could Bad Wolf according to Freddie. And Gwyneth… she'd mentioned something about a Bad Wolf. And on the Titanic… Olca MacTire, he's name had literally translated as Bad Wolf. And she was sure there had been other times. That was weird; it was like those words were all over the place … strange.

Behind her and the Doctor Craig's face hardened slightly. He was getting bored and tire of this mystery. All he wanted was for those words to leave him alone. But he also wanted to know what they meant. They were important, he couldn't deny that, and he was pretty sure that they were somehow linked to whatever was in his DNA. But what was the Bad Wolf, an alien, a person, or neither, some kind of message, a warning maybe…

It seemed like the Doctor was the only one who the words hadn't impacted on. He was looking at Mrs Peacock, a small sad smile lining his featured.

'Isn't that saying a Dark Horse' the Doctor wondered aloud. After all, he never could remember those stupid ape sayings!

'Oh yeah, that's it' Mrs Peacock nodded.

'So he wasn't exactly the faithful husband then?' Craig asked, rather more bluntly then he had intended. He was just a little thrown by his thoughts about the Bad Wolf and what it could be. But it seemed his words had hit home hard, for moments later Mrs Peacock was glaring up at him.

'No matter what my husband was, he did not deserve to be killed like that' she hissed.

'No, of course he didn't' Rose tried to sooth her, all the whilst throwing glares at her brother's untimely bluntness.

'No, _he's_ suggesting that just because my husband had several tarts in tow he deserved what he got, but I'M TELLING YOU HE DIDN'T' she all but shrieked at Craig, who had his arms up in surrender. He really hadn't meant anything about it. And then another thought pushed its way to the front of his mind. Her reaction was a bit over the top, was it an act?

Suddenly the door burst open and Colonel Mustard stood in the doorway, looking thunderous. He stormed across the room and was by the now bawling woman's side. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder, whilst glaring at the three travellers.

'THIS WOMAN HAS JUST HAD HER HUSBAND MURDERED AND YOU UPSET HER EVEN MORE?!' he roared at them.

'Colonel Mustard, we are trying to solve a murder, I'm sorry if we upset Mrs Peacock, but we need to speak with her if we're going to solve this' the Doctor pointed out. He tried to remember that he wasn't a real detective, but with this stupid glamor covering him, Rose and Craig and making them act like they were it was hard to keep their real personalities and not the ones forced on them.

'THAT IS IRRELEVANT! SHE IS A GRIEVING WOMAN!' the enraged man yelled in the Doctor's face.

Without saying another word he was back by Mrs Peacock's side and was gently lifting her to her feet, before guiding the tearful woman out of the room. The moment they were out of the room Rose rounded on Craig.

'Nicely handled, well done!' she spat at him.

'Oh come on, don't you think she may have overreacted' Craig countered with.

'She's grieving! And then you go and rub it in her face that her husband was cheating on her!' Rose cried in surprize.

'Still, that was over the top even for a grieving woman, perhaps a bit too far over, I think she was acting' Craig stated softly.

'Acting? You may you think it was her, why?' Rose crossed her arms and looked at him pointedly.

'Well, she finds out her husband is having fun with another woman, they have a blazing row and she hits him with something' Craig shrugged.

'Or, someone else is jealous because he loves his wife and won't leave her, so the other woman kills him in anger' Rose countered with.

'Anyone in particular, Miss Scarlet perhaps?' Craig raised his eyebrows at his sister. Clearly the slutty young woman had made an impression on Rose.

'Well why not?' Rose demanded angrily.

'Well what would she gain from it. She's a gold digger, but Mrs Peacock would be the one to inherit Doctor Black's money and anything else. No, I'm telling you this has to be the wife. Or maybe it was Colonel Mustard, seeing as he was very quick to run to her rescue' Craig theorised.

'Hold up though, maybe it was nothing to do with love or jealousy. What about Mrs White, she was harsher than anybody in her opinions about the man, maybe she killed him to put an end to his brutality' the Doctor intervened here.

'Oh yeah, the woman who looks barely capable of lifting her head of a pillow. I'd say she's on the list behind Sir Stuttering Plum and God's Guy Green' Craig said sarcastically.

'Look, all we've got are theories, so looks try and get something a bit more conclusive, yeah' Rose put in here. The Doctor and Craig both signed but nodded.

'Ok, we'll search the rooms. I'll take the Library, the Study, and the Billiard Room. Rose, you go search in the Dining Room, the Lounge and the Hall, and Craig, you take the Kitchen, the Ballroom and the Conservatory' the Doctor planned and both Tylers nodded.

'Meet you in the cellar in an hour, or sooner if you find anything' the Doctor asked, and again they both nodded. Moments later they were all leaving the rooms, and splitting up, going to search their appointed rooms.

…

Rose sighed softly to herself. It had been forty minutes since she had left the Doctor and Craig to search the rooms, and she had yielding little results so far. She'd gone over the Dining Room and the Hall, but had found absolutely nothing of importance in either room. She only hoped she'd find something of importance in the Lounge. She was looking under the cushions of the chairs, under the sofa, but it was about ten minutes before she found anything useful. Hidden behind the sofa was a large piece of lead piping, and on one end of it Rose could see a shining red substance, blood… human blood. Carefully she pulled the pipe out to examine it further. It didn't look dented, and if it had been used to kill a man surely it would have been, and the blood on the end of it was more than conclusive, so with that thought in mind, she left the room to head to the cellar, to show her fellow detectives their first clue.

…

Craig was having a similar experience. The first two rooms he had searched had proved useless in solving the mystery, though something about the ballroom nagged at him. It was like there was something missing, some small detail that was out of place, but he just couldn't for the life of him work out what it was. In the end he had shrugged it off and went onto the third room, which was the kitchen. He had looked through all the kitchen cupboards and had found them well stocked, and anally neat. In fact, the entire room was spotless; it was like somebody had just cleaned it. But then, maybe they had, after all if you murder someone in a kitchen surely you clean the scene intensely to destroy any potential evidence. Except for one item, one tiny little thing which was out of place. A long knife, or more accurately a dagger was by the sink, waiting to be washed, and it was covered in blood. He supposed it could be used to cut meat and that was animal blood, after all he hadn't seen any stab wounds on the body earlier, but he could hardly take that chance. Gathering the dagger carefully up in his hands, he quickly went to go meet with the Doctor and Rose.

…

The Doctor, like his companions, had already searched two of his allocated rooms, the Study and the Billiard Room, but they hadn't provided him with any clues as to who had committed the murder, or what with, or even where. He was now searching to creepy darkened Library. He sneezed slightly as the dust got into his system, the entire place was crawling with the horrid stuff. No, not everything. His eyes fell on a book which was different than the others, there was no dust on it. That meant it had been read recently! Curious, the Doctor went over to it and opened it. He was in for a surprise, before when he lifted up the cover, he realised it wasn't the first page he was looking at, but a revolver gun instead. It was one of those books with a hole cut out to make it a good hiding place, and boy he had got lucky finding the gun like that. He gingerly picked it up, he really hated those things with a passion, they reminded him of the Time War and all those terrible acts he had committed. He sighed but knew he had to shrug it off, because he had to go meet Rose and Craig. And putting the book back on the shelf, the Doctor exited the room, slipping the gun into his pocket as he went.

…

Craig nervously shuffled down the steps into the dark and grim cellar which had become a murder scene. Or more accurately a dumping ground for a body. He slowly walked down until he was near to where Doctor's Black body still laid, and edged ever nearer to it. He had a weapon but he wasn't sure it was the right one, and despite however much he didn't want to, he knew he had to make sure it was the murderer's weapon of choice. He carefully pulled Doctor Black's bloodied jacket back, but there were no wholes to his flesh, no stab wound or anything like it. He sighed in frustration. Clearly the dagger wasn't the weapon of choice.

'Not find what you're looking for?' a voice asked behind him, causing Craig to jump. But as he turned he sighed in relieve that it was only the Doctor.

'I thought I had the weapon, but it's not' Craig explained as the Doctor crouched down next to him besides the body.

'Well, so did I, but there's no bullet wounds so clearly this isn't it either' the Doctor told him, bringing the gun out of his pocket.

'Where'd you find that?' Craig asked with a raised eyebrow.

'In the library, that dagger?'

'The kitchen. I suppose this really is just animal blood' Craig sighed again.

'Where's Rose anyway?' the Doctor suddenly asked.

'Right here' Rose's voice floated down the stairs, and looking up, the two men saw her walking into the cellar, carrying a large piece of pipe in her hands.

'So you've found a potential weapon as well' the Doctor smiled as she moved towards them, carefully stepping around the body and kneeling down to face them.

'Yep, now I just need a look at Doctor Black's head' she nodded, carefully turned the man's head over so she could examine the back of it. But to her dismay, whilst the head did have a wound to it, it was much thinner than the piece of pipe. It clearly wasn't the weapon also.

'Well, I guess this isn't it either' Rose concluded, spotting the weapons in the Doctor's and her brother's hands too.

'No. so we still have no clear weapon or suspect' Craig frowned.

'Maybe we should focus on location then. We'll go back through each room until we find which one was where the murder took place' the Doctor said standing up.

'Gotcha' Rose said as she led the way out of the cellar. Once they were in the corridors, she turned right, whilst the Doctor and Craig went left.

'And be careful Rose, there's still a killer out there' Craig called back to her, but he didn't get a reply.

'Not for long' the Doctor said with determination as he and Craig split up too, each going their own ways. And he was determined. The sooner they got out of this little pocket world, the happier they'd all be.

**...**

**And they it is! So, I hope it was worth the wait, and I'll try to get this one finished as soon as I can, but with my crazy life that could be anytime : ) Please review your thoughts to me, along with any ideas you might have and I'll try to include them : )**


	7. The Blame Game, Good Detective Work

**Hello! So here's part 3 and part 4 is in the works! And I've finally made a front cover for this so yeah : ) Anyway, I hope you enjoy and pretty please leave a review, I might just give you a spoiler for what'll happen later on in this of you do : ) As always Doctor Who isn't mine, nor is Cluedo, but Craig Tyler and The Blame Game are : )**

**...**

**The Blame Game – Good Detective Work**

Having decided that they needed to find the location the murder had taken place first, the Doctor, Rose and Craig were all looking through their allotted rooms, searching for clues. Craig was now standing in the Ballroom, because something had been bothering him about that room. It was driving him nuts. The room itself looked exactly how he'd expect a ballroom to look. It was grand in fact. The walls were all white and very clean, the floor had nice black and white marble tiling, very shiny and clean, and a huge glittering chandelier hung down on the room, illumination it brightly.

But not everything in the room was in perfect condition. Near a table the floor was littered with large chunks of pottery, and kneeling down, Craig realised that it had once been a vase, royal blue in colour, but it had somehow ended up broken, like somebody had knocked it over in a rush. That theory was also backed up by a large wooden chair which was lying on its back on the floor by the table; it too clearly had been knocked over by someone in a hurry.

But other than those small details, the room was like a fairy tale ballroom. And the ornate fireplace, that was completely beautiful. Various little ornaments and trophies stood on top of it, along with a large golden clock, and a shiny brass candlestick had been placed on the left hand side of the crackling merry fire.

Craig blinked when he noticed it. There was only one candlestick, whereas most people bought them in pairs. He gasped slightly as he realised that was what the nagging sensation he had experienced had been. He crouched down near the right hand side of the fireplace. There was a small circular mark on the marble stone. He frowned, before he reached over and picked up the other candlestick, comparing it against the mark. It was a perfect match.

'So… there is another candlestick, but it's missing' he whispered to himself as he looked at the remaining candlestick in his hands.

He thought back to the sight of the body, or more specifically, the injuries on the body. The wounds on Doctor Black's head had been made by something shaped like a pipe, but smaller. The missing candlestick would fit that description, but he needed to be sure. And with that thought in mind, Craig quickly stood up, rushing out of the room and back to compare the candlestick to the wounds on Doctor's Black head.

…

The Doctor had searched through what felt like every book in the library and still he had found nothing to help them solve this. And nothing at all seemed to have been disturbed from its normal position. The markings on the chairs fitted to where the legs were, as were the marking of the furniture and objects in their dust tracks. Nothing at all had been disturbed in a while. But that made him frown slightly. Surely Mrs White would come in here to clean. He quickly left the room to go ask her about that particular subject.

It wasn't long until he found her, in the kitchen preparing everyone some food, a nicely scented vegetable stew, and a home-baked cherry pie for desert. The Doctor slowly approached her from behind. She was still chopping away at some vegetables, a long knife in her hand. She hadn't noticed his presence in the room.

The Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder, and with a scream the elderly lady span on the spot, the knife raised high. The Doctor's eyes widened in fear, believing that she was going to attack him, but with a gasp of relieve, Mrs White lowered her knife. The Doctor took a deep breathe.

'That was foolish sir! I nearly had a heart attack' she cried in shock.

'And I nearly had a knife plunged into me!' he cried back.

'Sorry, I was just surprized. And after what happened to Doctor Black…' she trailed off, shaking her head.

'Yes, I actually came to ask you a question about him. The library, how often do you clean it?' he asked curiously.

'Never. He forbad anyone to ever go in there. I and the other servants clean the other rooms of course, but nobody was ever allowed in the library' she told him.

'Did he say why?' the Doctor pressed her.

'Something about his research. He did more of it in there than he did in the Study' she shrugged.

'What was he working on last?' the Doctor wanted to know.

'Oh, couldn't help you there' she stated.

'Oh well, thanks anyway' the Doctor sighed.

'I'd ask Professor Plum if I were you' she suggested as he went to the door. He stood in it as he turned back to look at the elderly woman.

'He was the only other person other than Doctor Black allowed in there' she elaborated.

'Thanks for the tip, where is he?' the Doctor asked.

'No idea' she shrugged once more, and nodding, the Doctor set off to find the man dressed in purple, whilst Mrs White turned back to her work.

…

Rose signed softly to herself. Her search of the Dining Room had yet to yield her any results. She just wanted to get this mystery sorted so they could get out of this place and move on. She began to rummage through a cabinet filled with bottles of more expensive vine then those held down in the cellar.

'That's odd. Why would Doctor Black go for the cheap vine when he was having a party…' she wondered quietly to herself. To her, it seemed logical that Doctor Black would have selected a finer vine from this room then the more common ones in the cellar, so why hadn't he.

'Maybe… he was on his way here when his attacker struck' Rose mused to herself. She didn't hear the door open behind her.

'He left for vine… what if the killer didn't know about the better vine in here, and broke the vine in the cellar to make it look like the murder had taken place there…' she mused. She had no idea that someone was approaching her from behind.

'But there's no sigh of a fight here…' she trailed off. Suddenly she spotted a shadow on the wall in front of her, looming over her. she gasped and made to turn around, but before she could, something metal and thin delivered a crashing blow to the back of her head, and staggering on the spot, seeing little stars in front of her eyes, she fell forwards, smashing her face off the wooden cabinet, before she crashed to the floor, unconscious and blood pooling around her.

…

Craig was back in the cellar, and once again, he was carefully turning Doctor Black's head over. There they were, the thin rounded wounds at the centre of the bruises and the bleeding, and with as much dignity as he could, he pressed the Candlestick in his hand against the wound. It was a perfect fit.

'Gotcha! So that's one piece of the mystery solved. Possible two, if the Ballroom was where the murder took place' Craig grinned to himself as he set off to go find the Doctor and Rose to tell them.

It wasn't long until he ran into one of them in the corridor, namely the Doctor, who looked at him in confusion once seeing his wide grin.

'What's got you smiling?' he asked with a small smile of his own.

'This' Craig said, holding up the candlestick. The Doctor's eyes widened.

'You've found the murder weapon?' he asked in surprize.

'Well no. it's still missing. This Candlestick is its twin of the pair' Craig admitted.

'Well, at least we know what was used. Good detective work' the Doctor smiled brightly.

'Thanks, now we just need to figure out who did it. I think it took place in the Ballroom. There was a smashed vase, and a chair had been knocked over. Plus that's where the candlesticks normally are' Craig explained.

'Genius! Genius Craig!' the Doctor embraced him in a hug.

'Anyway, let's go tell Rose' Craig giggled as he and the Doctor broke apart.

'Do you know where she went?' the Doctor asked.

'Dining Room I think' Craig shrugged as they set off walking in the direction of said room.

…

It wasn't long before the two men were outside the Dining Room; the door was which was closed. Craig opened it, only to find the room was covered in darkness. He felt for the light switch, and flicked it on. Instantly the room was flooded with light, and what he saw made him cry out in horror.

'No! Oh my god no!' he cried, running into the room around the long table. He knelt down beside a figure, and when the Doctor saw what had caused such a reaction, he paled and felt sick. Lying on the ground, bleeding and looking deadly pale, was Rose, lying horrible still, a gaping wound to the back of her head and blood pouring from the wound there.

'Rose! Rose, wake up! Please w…wake up!' Craig began to cry and he pulled his sister's prone form into his arms, rocking her back and forwards. She was white, her hair stained red with her own blood, and she skin was cold. But she wouldn't wake up, and Craig instantly feared the worst. Tears poured down his hair, falling into her blood and hair.

The Doctor hurried and knelt down beside them, placing a finger on Rose's neck. His eyes widened when he didn't feel a pulse straight away, but he breathed a sigh of relieve when he eventually found one, weak but present.

'She's alive… sonic' he muttered, rummaging through his pockets and pulling out the sonic screwdriver.

'Oh thank god' Craig breathed as the Doctor said the word 'alive'. He'd never have forgiven himself if they had found her too late.

'Tilt her head forwards, but be gentle with her' the Doctor told Craig as he rushed to get the Sonic to the correct setting. Craig did as he was told, taking the upmost care not to hurt Rose even more.

The Doctor set the Sonic to its healing setting, before he placed it near Rose's wound, moving her hair so it dangled down over her face so he could aim better. He activated it and ran it over the wound a few times, but it was taking too long for his liking.

'Come on! Come on!' he implored this to work; the alternative was too horrible to think about.

'Come on Rose! Please Rose!' Craig choked out. The Doctor kept on going, until finally the wound closed and the bleeding stopped.

'Whew, thank goodness' the Doctor whispered as he put the sonic away, glad that the wound had been successfully healed.

'Rose… Rose… can you hear me?' Craig whispered to her as he hugged her tight to him. Rose made a very weak moaning sound, before her eyes fluttered open.

'Hey…'she said with the ghost of a smile on her lips.

'Rose… what happened?' the Doctor asked in a gentle voice.

'I… someone hit me from behind' she managed to say dazedly, her eyes starting to close again.

'No… no… stay with us, keep talking. Who was it, who hit you?' Craig urged her, fearing if she slept she might never wake up again.

'I didn't see, it was a man though, I saw his shadow' Rose whimpered.

'Don't worry Rose, we won't let him near you again' the Doctor whispered as her eyes drifted shut again. She smiled slightly, before she began to make soft noises. Clearly she had fallen asleep. Craig wanted to wake her up, but the look the Doctor threw at him told him he should just let her sleep.

'Will she be alright?' Craig asked the Doctor as he repositioned his arms around his sister, before he stood up, carrying her in his arms, the Doctor helping him to his feet.

'She should be, but I can't say the same for whoever did this too her' the Doctor growled in fury.

'You'll have to get in line first' Craig muttered angrily. He'd kill whoever did this! It was just lucky they had found her in time! He shuddered as he thought of what could have happened had they not found her so soon.

'I think it's time we solved this once and for all' the Doctor said determinedly, anger dripping from his voice, as they left the room, into the corridor once more. And Craig couldn't agree more. He wanted his sister out of this stupid killer game, and he wanted her out now. And right now, he pitied anything and anyone that would try to stand in their way.

**...**

**Yahoo! So first of all, Oh. My. God! What jerk dare hurts our favourite Rose?! Well you'll have to read to next chapter for that but please feel free to take a guess : ) Part 4 should be up soon, and then there'll be a little break because the next adventure in this is set later on, and I haven't got that far in the other story yet : ) Please review as they make my day and I hope you're enjoying this : )**


	8. The Blame Game, A Murder Mystery Solved

**And here's part 4, finally! Anyway, not much to say other then thank you for the reviews I got for the last chapter, they mean a lot, and enjoy this one : ) Please note that I do not own the TV program Doctor Who or the board game Cluedo, But I do own Craig Tyler and the story The Blame Game! Read on at your own risk, because somebody is playing a dangerous blame game...**

**...**

**The Blame Game – A Murder Mystery Solved**

Craig carried his sleeping sister all the way to the lounge, gently placing her on the sofa in there. Then he knelt down next to her, stroking her hair, whilst looking up at the Doctor, who stood against the doorway, his arms crossed, a frown on his face.

'Why would someone attack her?' Craig asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

'Dunno, maybe she was getting close to the truth, maybe just the game reaching another level' the Doctor shrugged.

'Will she be ok, she lost a lot of blood' Craig wanted to know.

'She should be, I think that once we get out of here all injuries will, sort of erase themselves' the Doctor tried to explain.

'You mean like, we could break a leg here and when we get out of this world it wouldn't be broken?' Craig wondered.

'Yeah, although I'd prefer not to test that, seeing as if we lose, we'll be trapped here and we don't want fatal injuries do we' the Doctor sighed. At that moment, Rose began to groan and stir. Instantly, Craig was leaning over her.

'Rose… can you hear me? Rose… Are you alright?' he whispered to her. She put a hand to his head and let out of long sigh.

'Ow, my head's killing me' she moaned as she opened her eyes.

'Hey, you gave me a right scare then you know' Craig smiled at her, and she grinned al little.

'Sorry. So, what've you worked out yet?' she asked as she sat up, with Craig helping her, looking at the Doctor.

'Not much. I'm willing to bet that the murder and your attacker are one and the same, and Craig found out what the weapon is, but we haven't recovered it yet'

'What is it?'

'A Candlestick, taken from the Ballroom, we think that's where the murder took place' Craig told her, and there was a long moment of silence as Rose took this in. when she replied, she looked thoughtful and slowly.

'When I was in the Dining Room just before I was hit, I find some more expensive vine there than that in the cellar. I think that Doctor Black was going there when he was attacked. And to get from the main room to the Dining Room, Doctor Black would have to pass the Ballroom' she explained.

'Not a bad theory. But we still need to figure out who did it, and fast' the Doctor warned, and Rose threw him a confused look.

'The Doctor thinks that you might have been attacked because the game was raising its level, which means if we don't solve this soon it could be game over for us'

'You said the person that did this was a man' the Doctor said as he began to pace about, which she confirmed with a nod.

'That narrows it down to three suspects; Colonel Mustard, Reverend Green, and Professor Plum' he noted.

'Well the most obvious choice would be Colonel Mustard, but…' Craig trailed off, looking away thoughtfully.

'…But?' the Doctor urged him on.

'But this is a murder mystery. In murder mysteries, it's normally not the person you think it is, it's usually the person you least suspect' he pointed at. The Doctor and Rose just threw him a bemused look though.

'I think you're thinking about this a little too much Craig' Rose chuckled.

'It has to be Mustard. Green's too old to sneak up behind Rose like that without she turning around first, and I doubt that Plum would work up the courage to do that to her. Plus he has the brute strength to bring a candlestick down on someone's head and kill them' the Doctor observed.

'So how do we prove it?' Rose asked him.

'In Cluedo, don't you have to say something that ends the game?' the Doctor asked them.

'You say 'I think it was whoever, with the whatever, in the whatever' Craig told him.

'Well then, all we need to do is go up to Colonel Mustard and say that' the Doctor told them.

'Hold on though, are you sure it's him, because we might only get one shot at this. I really don't think that it's him' Craig stated firmly.

'Well who do you think it is?' Rose asked with a sigh.

'I have an idea. Just let me go check it before you go do anything' Craig said as he stood up.

'Stay here and look away her' Craig said to the Doctor as he passed.

'Oh come on, I'm fine, I can come too' she told him, somewhat childishly.

'You're staying right there, mum would kill me if she found out I let you do anything different' Craig shook his head. Rose turned to the Doctor, who shook his head, and frowning and pouting, Rose crossed her arms, but did not get up. Smiling, Craig turned and walked out of the room.

…

It wasn't long until Craig was at his destination, and cautiously, he pushed open the door to the Library. He quickly turned the lights on and looked around, slightly paranoid in case of attack. After all, he hardly wanted to meet the murder before he found what he was looking for.

He crept through the aisles of books, looking them over before he reached the far end of the room. Against the back wall were a collection of large tables, all with documents, pieces off research, and papers strewn all over them.

'How could he possibly find anything in this mess' Craig sighed to himself as he pushed some papers aside, flicking through them in case they held something of relevance. He was about to give up, when he caught sight of something that drew his attention.

It was a framed document, with Doctor Black's name printed across it. His eyes widened as he realised what it was, it was a Noble Prize. It had been awarded to Doctor Black for part of a government research task with had had a breakthrough in some medicine thanks to it.

Next to it was a photograph of Doctor Black holding the award whilst shaking hands with the man awarding it too him. but what made Craig curious about it was that at the edge of the picture there was a small gap. It was like the photo was too small from the frame, but frames were built to standard sizes. Intrigued, he picked up the frame and pulled the back away. The photo fell out onto the desk. It had been folded over, so Craig flattened it out. His eyes widened as he saw that somebody else had been on the stage as well as Doctor Black. Professor Plum had been there, a short distance away, and he looked jealous and angry.

'Yes, yes can see just how selfish he was can't you?' a voice said behind him and Craig jumped, before he span on the spot. There, in the shadows, was Professor Plum. And with dread, Craig noticed he had the missing candlestick in his hands. He immediately tensed up, his guard fully up.

'Why did he hide you out of the picture?' Craig decided to go alone with him for now, until he could find a way to give him the slip.

'I told you, we were research partners. Oh course he never acted like we were partners. He would just reap the results from my hard work whilst I got nothing' Professor Plum spat. He didn't sound at all nervous now, but calm and collected, creepy even.

'And did you try and talk to him about it?' Craig asked as he starting to slowly move along the side of the desks. Professor Plum was so intent of telling someone all this that he didn't seem to notice him move.

'Oh yeah, time and time again… But it always fell on deaf ears, he said I needed charisma and charm, and that he was better at that them me so he just took over' Plum said bitterly.

'I guess that most have hurt a lot, having somebody take all the credit for all your work and efforts' Craig said sympathetically. He was slowly edging around in a circle now, so that it was Plum against the desk and not him.

'Yeah, yeah it did hurt. It hurt me so much that eventually I just had to hurt him' Plum nodded, looking a little choked up.

'So what did you do?' Craig asked nervously.

'It was the way he introduced me to everyone, you know, little man, and all that. So when he left to go get some vine I went after him. I just wanted to talk you know. I dragged him into the Ballroom, but then he laughed at me, and told me I was pathetic, and that the only reason I was his research partner was because he pitied me' Plum looked furious now and was egging himself on.

'And he made you angry?' Craig urged him on gently.

'I just grabbed the first thing at hand and brought it down on his head. I couldn't believe it when I realised he was dead. I just dragged the body to the cellar and went back to the party. Nobody had even noticed I'd gone. Then Mrs White came back in and told everyone, and I guess you know the rest' Plum explained to him, somewhat tearfully.

'Why attack Rose though?' Craig wanted to know. Normally he would have yelled the question, or attacked him by now, but he knew that he needed to stay calm, or this situation could easily turn volatile.

'She was getting too close. I'd hidden this in there you see?' he explained, bringing the candlestick up to eye level.

'I realised that she'd find it, so I quietly crept into the room and took it from its hiding place, and when she was about to turn around and catch me, I just panicked and hit her with it' he said, genuinely sounding remorseful.

'So it was just an accident?' Craig asked as he started to take small steps back towards the door.

'Yeah, but I was angry, I didn't mean to kill him though, I swear I didn't' Plum started sobbing slightly.

'Yeah, and people will understand that' Craig tried to sound reassuring, but his words had the complete opposite effect. The man in purple suddenly looked angry and determined and scary. He glared at Craig firmly; his mouth formed a small line.

'Nobody will hear anything. Doctor Black was a selfish, vile, cruel man, and I'm not throwing my life away because of a moment of anger' Plum growled and Craig took an involuntary step back. Plum started to advance on him.

'You won't be saying a single word about this conversation to anyone' he said as he raised the candlestick up high above his head. Craig gasped and started to run, but he slipped over and landed on his back. He yelled out as Plum stood over him, before he brought thee candlestick down on his head, hard.

Craig blinked as he saw stars. He was disorientated but he knew that he needed to get away. But he couldn't move properly, and as he tried to get up, he felt another blow smash into the side of his head. He felt another wave of dizziness sweep over him as another crashing blow smacked the back of his head. He felt his skull shattered and blood starting to flow down his back. His wobbled slightly and lay back down. The darkness was consuming him as he saw the very blurry figure of Professor Plum come towards him again.

'No…' Craig whimpered weakly.

'I'm sorry, but I can't let you tell anyone' he whispered to Craig, before another blow came crashing down on his head once. Craig couldn't take it anymore, and his mind shut down as his eyes closed, his breathing stilled. Professor Plum sighed slightly, before he turned and walked away, leaving Craig to slowly and painfully bleed to death on the Library floor.

…

Rose grinned slightly. She had finally nagged and nagged the Doctor into letting her go find Colonel Mustard, but only if he went with her. after all, they were both sick of waiting for Craig to come back and they figured that the sooner they found Mustard and ended this, the happier all three of them would be, and so now, they were walking through the corridors, trying to find him.

…

As he laid on the ground bleeding, all of a sudden, Craig's skin started to sparkle with a golden shimmer. His eyes opened, and they shone like golden stars. His blood stopped flowing outwards and suddenly changed course, flowing back into Craig's wounds. Even off his clothing it crept back to where it was before. Once all the blood was gone, golden specks span around Craig in a vortex of golden light, before his wounds healed themselves and the light died down.

Craig's eyes flickered open slightly, back to their usual brown, and he felt his head, blinking in confusion slightly.

'I… what happened? Oh yeah, I slipped and must have knocked myself out, where's Plum gone?' Craig asked himself as he leapt to his feet and ran out the door. He could hear frantic footsteps just around the corner, so he picked up his pace. There, gawking at him in stunned disbelief was Professor Plum, looking at him like he couldn't believe his eyes.

'But I… you were… and the blood' he stuttered, before he turned and began to run.

'STOP RIGHT THERE PLUM!' Craig howled at him as he lunged forwards and jumped him, sending the man in purple to the ground. Again and again the blonde slammed his fist into the man's fist; breaking his nose and making his eyes swell slightly. Plum moaned and whimpered but Craig ignored it, now aiming blows at his stomach. He wasn't enjoying it, in fact Craig hated what he was doing, but this man had hurt his baby sister, and there was absolutely no way he could forgive that. That was the thought pounding through his head and he rained more blows down on Plum.

Suddenly it was manic as doors around them crashed open as all the other people burst into the corridor, whilst at the same time, the Doctor and Rose suddenly came around the corner at the other end's corner.

'Craig! What the hell are you doing?!' Rose shrieked in surprize.

The Doctor and Rose were both looking at Craig, his fist raised, then at Plum, who was looking terrible, and blackened and bloodied, and then at the candlestick which Craig had knocked onto the ground and out of his hand. Then it clicked, and they realised that they had been wrong.

'I suggest it was Professor Plum, in the Ballroom, with the candlestick' the Doctor called out. Suddenly it was like a whirlwind was around them. The air was rushing, and they were all being blown at like there was a storm in the area.

The walls, ceiling, and flooring suddenly began to flicker, the colour fading around them, and all the people were too. All of them, Professor Plum, Mrs Peacock, Reverend Green, Miss Scarlet, Mrs White, and Colonel Mustard, they all vanished around them, and it was like the Doctor, Rose, and Craig were being sucked down a whirlpool. They all yelled out in panic as darkness swirled around them, before there was a blindingly white light.

…

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes, and his smiled slightly at what he saw. He was standing, holding the game in his hands. Rose's and Craig's were over his. They were all back, back in the junk shop, back home.

'Hey, look' he said to his friends, whose eyes both fluttered open too. They looked around at their surroundings, before it sank in.

'We did it!' Rose cheered with a laugh.

'We escaped!' Craig added with a broad grin.

'Yes we did, HAHA!' the Doctor beamed as he wrapped them both in a hug and the three of them jumped up and down as they hugged each other. Suddenly Mr Gold stuck his head back into the room.

'Is everything ok?' he asked them in confusion.

'Yeah, it's fantastic, it's great. Listen, I think we're going to have to skip the tea, but how much do you want for this?' the Doctor asked as the three broke apart, all sorting massive grins, as he held up the box. Mr Gold blinked before a small fearful expression took over his face.

'Are… Are you sure? After all… that box… the old owner said it was cursed' his spluttered out.

'Oh I'm sure it's fine, how much for it?' the Doctor insisted.

'Well, if you're sure, you can just have it, call it a gift for Rose' Mr Gold smiled.

'Aw, thank you Mr Gold' Rose smiled as she ran up to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

'You're quite welcome my dear, are you sure you can't stay for a while?' he asked.

'Yeah, sorry, but I'll try to pop back soon, goodbye Mr Gold' she smiled at him.

'Goodbye Rose, take care' he nodded as the Doctor and Craig left. Rose nodded at him, before she left the shop too, and the three of them heading back to the Tardis.

…

'So, why'd you buy that then?' Craig asked as he walked into the Tardis first.

'Well, it wouldn't do to have anymore of Mr Gold's customers get sucked into it would it?' the Doctor grinned as he reached the console, before he pulled up part of the grated floor and lowered himself down. Craig and Rose both knelt down besides the whole in wonder.

'What's down there?' Rose asked.

'My Chest' the Doctor grinned as he pulled a large brown wooden chest up out of the hole and placed it in front of them.

'C!' he cried before he opened the chest. Inside it was an assortment of strange and alien objects.

'C for Cluedo!' he cried as he placed the box into the chest, shutting the lid down again.

'So, what's next on the list?' Rose asked with a grin.

'Bed for now, tomorrow, oh… somewhere… fantastic!' the Doctor grinned, and nodding; the two Tylers retreated to their rooms for the night, the thoughts of another eventful day tomorrow playing in their dreams.

**...**

**And there it is! Now the story slips back into the other story at 'Vanished' and carries on in that! Next one for this will be set after Father's Day, so there'll be more in this story after that : ) Keep on reading and review my faithful readers!**


	9. Katz, Strange Sights on Safari

**Hello! Back again! So, now that I've reached the end of Father's Day in the main story, the next story in the time line is this one, 'Katz'. Again, a little bit of a fluffy episode to include in the main story so I've put it in here instead. It is set between 'Father's Day' and 'The Darkest Knight'. Hope you all enjoy, and please note that Craig and 'Katz' is owned by me, but Doctor Who is not. Enjoy!**

**...**

**Katz**

**Katz – Strange Sights on Safari**

The Doctor was already inside the control room when Craig walked in, his expression still a little down, but then when you see your father sacrifice himself for the whole world the day before it was hardly surprizing Craig seemed a little down. He nodded a good morning at the Doctor, and went to go sit in the captain's chair, before he did a double take and looked back at the Doctor before he burst into hysterics.

He was almost on the floor, clutching at his sides whilst the Doctor shot him a playfully sulking look. Instead of his usual leather jacket, jumper, and black trousers, the Doctor was dressed in a light green shirt and matching shorts. On his head with a brown leathery hat and hanging around his neck were a pair of black binoculars. He looked the very definition of a safari tourist! How very domestic of him!

Wiping a tear from his eye he finally managed to stagger back into a standing position, but he was still unable to keep a straight face, or stop a few giggles escaping.

'Finished?' the Doctor quirked an eyebrow at him, which of course had him laughing again. He was still giggling a few minutes later when he was finally able to speak again.

'Ok, now I'm finished' he nodded weakly, still gasping for breath after that little laughing fit.

'Good, cause now you can go get ready' the Doctor told him.

'What are you dressed like that for anyway?' he asked in confusion.

'Well isn't it obvious. Craig Tyler, I'm taking you to the great wilderness of Southern Africa!' the Doctor grinned and Craig's face lit up with excitement.

'You mean we're going on safari?' the blonde asked excitedly. He'd always wanted to go and do something like that at some point in his life! And he was mentally kicking himself for not thinking of it himself.

'Yeah, oh Craig you're gonna love it' the Doctor beamed before he staggered slightly, as Craig had literally hurled himself at him and wrapped his arms around him.

'Oh thank you, that's so fantastic' the blonde grinned as they broke apart.

'You're more than welcome, now go get ready, I sent Rose off a few moments ago' he smiled, and with an excited grin, Craig raced off back down the hall to the Tardis wardrobe.

…

The Doctor smiled as he watched Craig go. The true reason he had for taking him and Rose somewhere fun like a safari park was to distract them from the horrible events of the day before. Plus he wanted things to go back to how they had been before, especially with Rose.

He knew that they had somewhat cleared the air about their row the day before, but he also knew himself and Rose well enough to know that things might still be a little awkward. They'd never argued like that before and he wasn't keen for another round, so having a fun trip like this was the perfect distraction.

He turned as he heard footsteps on the grating, and felt his jaw drop slightly. Standing there in a white t-shirt with a green shirt over the top, which was fairly revealing on its own, stood Rose. Her hair was tied back, showing off her beautiful face and her green shorts were a fair bit north of the knee. He mentally had to shake himself just to rip his eyes away from her. God how she'd got to him; and her looks certainly didn't help the matter, nor did the amount of leg he could see. He quickly swallowed those awfully human emotions away, a human and a time lord, it could never work!

'Hey is this alright?' she asked, turning on the spot, making his stomach tighten even more. She looked so… _hot_ it was almost unfair!

'Yeah, definitely, definitely ok, great, fantastic in fact' he stuttered slightly over his words. He had to get out of this now, and thank the gods for Craig Tyler, as his perfect timing led him to walking in right at that moment.

He had changed into a deep green shirt which showed a little of his bare chest and light brown knee length shorts. He wore thick leather boots, a green bandana around his head and a pair of sunglasses was perched on his nose. A camera hung around his neck. He grinned at the sight of them.

'Ready to go?' he asked the two of them.

'Yep, Africa, here we come!' the Doctor beamed as he hurried around the console, and moments later the Tardis landed with her usual thump, and they hurried for the door, excitement bubbling inside all of them.

…

As soon as Rose stepped out of the Tardis, her eyes widened at the breath taking beauty of the scenery around them. Wide open fields of yellowish grass, sprawling clear crystal blue skies overhead. Little dried out bushes and trees were scattered about as far as the eye could see, and every now and then a patch of purely clear and clean water could be seen. It truly was a wonderful sight.

'That's, so beautiful' she breathed.

'Planet Earth, and there's so many other worlds out there like this one Rose' the Doctor beamed as he took her hand. She noticed it was shaking slightly, almost like he was nervous, but then it was most like because of their argument the day before. He was clearly trying not to dwell on it so she wouldn't either. A brand new start, only this time, she'd never do anything like that ever again, she'd swear that to the Doctor, Craig, and herself, and it felt so fantastic.

'And I want to see them all with you' she smiled back.

'Me too' he nodded with a grin, easing up slightly as they fell back into their normal way of being.

'So then, what do we go see first?' Craig asked brightly as he looked around. He smiled slightly as his eyes landed on their intertwined fingers, glad to see things returning to normal between them. He hadn't really been surprized when the Doctor had admit he loved his baby sister, nor was he a fool. He knew love when he saw it, and unbeknownst to the time lord, he knew Rose was beginning to fall for him too. But he wasn't going to get involved; they'd figure it out in their own time and without his meddling, after all, that would only make things messy in the end. And he certainly didn't want that for the two people who meant the most to him.

'Look over there, that's where the tours start' the Doctor pointed through the tree to a sort of white hut with a metal roof. He began to walk in that direction, and soon the three were standing outside. The Doctor slowly pushed the door open and led the way inside. In was a rather drastic change from the mud and insects and tall grass outside. In was actually rather clinical inside, with white washed walls and tiled flooring. A counter stood in front of them, and a dark skinned man with cropped black hair and dark eyes smiled at them. He was wearing attire similar to their, with a mustard brown t-shirt and a pair of long dark green shorts.

'Hello, are you here for the safari tour?' he asked, flashing them a smile.

'Yep, I'm the Doctor, this is Rose and Craig. This is the right place isn't it?' the Doctor asked.

'Certainly. If you'd like to wait just a moment, I'll get the safari tour car ready for you' the man nodded politely, before he walked out of a doorway behind him, into another room.

'When is this anyway?' Craig asked him.

'It's in the August of 2005, so you two went missing about five months ago' the Doctor said softly.

Rose saw the guilt on his face for the pain Jackie would go going through right now, so she looked around for something to try and change the subject too.

'How come he's willing to trust us so quickly? I thought you needed to give a deposit and proof of ID and medical stuff first' Rose eventually asked in confusion.

'I'm a Time Lord, people just bow to my will' the Doctor grinned at her jokingly.

'No but seriously?' she pressed, chuckling as he pouted at her brushing his joke off so easily.

'Well, last night I used the Tardis to go to one of those internet cafes and organised it all over the computer, took me ages too might I add, stupid primitive ape machine' he muttered darkly as he thought about the computer he's spent nearly an hour the night before practically wrestling with.

'It's all paid already, we just need the keys and to return them when we're done' the Doctor grinned and Rose smiled brightly. Just as soon as the he'd finished saying that, the man came back in, a set of keys in hand and a smile on his face.

'Here's the keys. The jeep is just around the back. Please keep inside of the restricted areas and do not get out of the vehicle. Also, no flash-photography' he added when he saw Craig's camera.

'Aw… fine' Craig said, taking his camera off and putting it in his pocket.

'Thanks' the Doctor grinned as he took the keys off the man and the three of them walked outside again, walking around the edge of the building. Soon they came out the back, and saw that the area had been fenced off in places, and a dust trail as a road to guide them in the right place for the tour. Several large green and brown camouflaged designed jeeps were parked up at the back of the building.

'So then Tylers, ready to see the safari?' the Doctor grinned as he pressed the button on the key, activating the right jeep and they all approached.

'Oh yeah' Craig beamed at him whilst Rose nodded excitedly.

'Then off we go!' the Doctor cried enthusiastically as he got into the driver's seat. Rose got in the front passenger seat beside him, and Craig got into the back. It was quite hot inside, so they all unwind their windows to let the cool breeze cool them down.

The Doctor turned the keys in the ignition, starting the jeep up and he slowly took them forwards.

'Wow, you're not a bad driver when it comes to a jeep' Rose noted aloud.

'Now if only you could drive the Tardis as well' Craig muttered from the back.

'Oi! Cheeky' the Doctor laughed as Rose giggled. It was then that they saw their first safari animal.

'Look, over there!' Rose cried, and in the direction she was pointing, the three of them could see a herd of Zebras, all galloping together in a pack, running wild and free and wherever they wanted too.

'Awesome' Craig grinned. He just wished he could take some pictures, but he didn't want to break the rules.

'Very' Rose nodded in agreement as they drove on. This was so much fun! She was so glad that the Doctor had brought them here after the day they had had yesterday.

…

'Oh look, look there' Craig cried excitedly. It was nearly an hour later, and after the zebras they were still seeing exciting new animals. They had seen a herd of elephants drinking at a small watering hole, any a few adorable baby ones.

They then had seen a pair of giraffes, munching on some leaves on the trees, both of them looking extremely peaceful and calm.

Then they had had their first close encounter. A rhinoceros hadn't taken too kindly to their presence and had charged at them like a bull to a red rag. But the Doctor had put his foot down quickly and they had managed to get away before it got to close to them.

Next on the trail was a group of adorable Meerkats, which Rose had actually loved so much that she wanted to get out and go closer, but the Doctor swiftly reminded her that they weren't meant to get out of the vehicle. She had pointed out that he never normally followed rules, but gave in and they had driven off, with Rose looking longingly back at the cute animals.

After that, they had spotted some gorillas near some trees, a family of them, with a large male, a small female, and a tiny baby one. The male had jump up when he had seen them, ready to protect his mate and offspring, but who sat down again as they drove past with posing any threat to anything.

And now they were close to the end of the safari grounds, close to return to the starting point. They were thinking that they had seen everything there was to see, when they came across something else. The Doctor and Rose hadn't seen it, but Craig did.

Running along the other side of the fence, keeping up with them, was a small lion cub. It was chasing after then. It was so cute that Craig smiled at it as he watched the young lion bouncing after them. He was about to point him out to the Doctor and Rose, when the lion cub looked up at him, and did something that caused Craig's mouth to drop wide open.

'What're you looking at?!' the lion shouted in annoyance at him. Craig stared in shock.

It had just spoken! Never mind rude, but spoken… as in actually said words understandable to a human being! That was… completely impossible!

'Oh. My. God!' Craig managed to say after a few moments being stunned into silence. The lion cub laughed at him before he darted into a bush and out of sight. Craig just watched him go in shock.

'What is it?' the Doctor asked, turning around in his seat slightly to look at him.

'Watch where you're going?' Rose cried, grabbing the wheel and stopping them from driving through a fence.

'Sorry, sorry' the Doctor said as he turned back around.

'I can't believe it' Craig said, still sounding stunned. The Doctor was worried now, confused as to what could have got such a reaction out of his friend.

'What is it Craig?' Rose asked who turned in her chair without nearly causing an accident.

'I… it can't… impossible… Doctor, I just saw a lion cub, a _talking_ lion cub!' he cried in his surprize. The Doctor swerved the steering wheel so violently that the two Tyler let out loud cries of shock before he got the jeep under control again, skidding to a stop.

'What?!' both the Doctor and Rose, turning around to stare at him.

'I swear, there was this little lion cub running alongside us, and he _talked_!' Craig said with certainty. The Doctor and Rose shared a bemused look before turning back to him.

'Did you get enough sleep last night Craig?' Rose chuckled. Craig's expression soon became very annoyed.

'Yes! I wasn't imagining things! I saw and _heard_ him!' he insisted.

'I think we should go back, I think Craig's forgot his sunscreen and has been in the heat too long' the Doctor said to Rose. Craig slapped him over the top of his hand, his eyes narrowed in anger.

'I did not imagine it! I heard him! Why is this so hard to believe? A talking Lion is nothing compared to being sucked into a board game or bird people or everything else we've seen' he fumed. The Doctor let out a low sigh.

'When you put it like that… but what would a talking lion be doing here?' he wondered aloud.

'Well I'm going to go find him and ask him' Craig said, still sounding annoyed, as he undid his seat belt and went to unlock his door.

'Hold on, we're not meant to get out, and you can't just go walking into the wilderness, anything could happen!' the Doctor cried in alarm, grabbing the back of the blonde man's shirt to stop him.

'Fine, what do you suggest then, and if you say a rest in bed and some pills, I'll slap you worse than mum does' Craig shot at him, causing the Doctor to look genuine afraid.

'Let's just calm down and go back to the Tardis, and we'll think of something there' the Doctor said reassuringly. With a huff, Craig nodded, and soon the Doctor resumed his driving, but now the journey was in silence.

Craig did feel a little hurt by their doubtfulness, but then again, it did sound crazy, even to him. Soon enough they were back at the hut, and had returned the jeep's keys. After quickly walking back to the Tardis, the three of them were now in the control room of the blue box.

'So then, if this talking lion exists and Craig wasn't imagining things…' Rose started but was cut off.

'Which I wasn't' he grumbled.

'How do we find it, and what is it anyway, a really clever lion or an alien?' she asked as if she hadn't been interrupted.

'Could be either, not sure yet. As for how we find it, we'll just have to go looking for it' the Doctor shrugged as he ran around the console, pressing buttons and pulling levers. The entire room shook, before they landed again.

'Let me guess, later on the same day?' Craig asked and the Doctor nodded.

'We don't want anyone to see us walking around in broad daylight. Also, it should be a little safer at night' the Doctor said as he moved towards the door.

'But what about nocturnal animals?' Rose asked, halting him in his tracks.

'Good point' he said as he turned around and headed for the opening to the corridor.

'Where are you going now?' Craig asked as he got further away.

'To get us some protection' the time lord called back before he was out of sight. Craig turned to look at his younger sister.

'So why are you doubting me?' he asked in a soft voice. It didn't sound angry, but more curious.

'I don't know. It's not that I don't believe you, but talking lions are a bit farfetched' she shrugged.

'So are Time Lords and blue police boxes which are bigger on the inside' Craig reminded her and she chuckled.

'Yeah, sorry I doubted you' she smiled as she hugged him.

'Nah, it's fine' Craig grinned just as the Doctor came back. His arms were full of grey small canisters with spray like lids.

'Right, take some of these each, and we'll have to stay close together' he said as he handed some of the items to Rose and Craig each, keeping a third for himself.

'What do these do?' Rose asked as she put some of them in her pockets, her brother mirroring her actions.

'They filled with a sleeping draught. One sniff and any animal that attacks will be out in a wink. Should offer us some protection' the Doctor said as he led them out of the Tardis, back into the wilderness, which was now set under an inky blue sky with twinkling stars spread across it.

Even in the dark it was so peaceful and beautiful out here, but they didn't have time to enjoy the scenery right now, they had a lion cub to find, and if they didn't, some serious questions would be cast over a certain blonde man's sanity.

'Right, come on then' the Doctor said, taking Rose's hand and Craig's in the other. He led them towards the hut, or more accurately the fence around it, before the three of them climbed over it, hopping over into the other side.

'Right, we go slowly, and quietly. Use your canisters if anything comes close' the Doctor whispered as they began to walk. It was very dark but they could still somewhat see just what was ahead of them.

…

They had looking for nearly two hours, in which they had had only one close call. A gorilla had suddenly came flying out of a tree, and angrily beat its fists against its chest as it charged at them, but thanks to Rose's quick reactions, she threw one of her sleeping canisters at it, knocking him out.

That was been a while ago now though, and the Doctor and Rose were begin to give in.

'Craig, there's nothing here. I'm sorry but I really think that you must have imagined it' Rose sighed.

'I didn't! I know I didn't!' Craig refused to admit defeat. He had seen that lion cub and he was going to find it even if he had to stay here all night.

'Craig, I think she might be right' the Doctor sighed. He grabbed Craig's hand, fully intending on leading the blonde man back to the Tardis, when they heard rustling in the bushes nearby.

'Sssh' the Doctor put a finger on his lips as they tensely waited. Suddenly the bushes parted, and a mustardy yellow blur leapt out at them.

'ROAR!' it cried as it landed in front of them, making all of them jump. Then suddenly there was a loud laughing noise, the sound of a child laughing.

Craig squinted as saw that it was the lion cub he had seen earlier.

'Ha! I knew it! I knew I didn't imagine it!' he turned triumphantly to the Doctor and Rose.

'Ok, Ok, you were right, we were both wrong, I'm sorry' the Doctor sighed slightly.

'Sorry Craig' Rose added.

'Hey! I'm still hear you know! Who are you anyway; humans aren't allowed in at night! I'm going to tell on you!' the lion cub taunted them.

'And just who are you?' the Doctor asked as he crouched down to get a better look at the lion cub. It seemed to be just the average young lion, a couple of months old at the most, but there didn't seem to be anything special about it.

'None of your business. You should keep that massive nose of your out of other people's business' the lion cub said rudely, whilst the Doctor looked astonished, and Rose and Craig burst into hysterics at the expression on his face and the fact that a lion, a lion cub no less, had just wounded his ego.

'Well I'm the Doctor, and I'm making it my business to find out why there's a talking lion here, so you'll be coming with me' the Doctor said in a firm tone once his shock had died down.

'Yeah, don't think so nosey' the lion cub stuck his tongue out.

The Doctor was just about to bring his canister up to knock the cub out so they could examine him in the Tardis, when there was the sound of another creature moving through the grass from the other side, and it sounded a lot bigger than the lion cub, who suddenly seemed a lot less cocky and rude now. He seemed nervous and fearful, like he'd just been caught out.

'RUDIS! RUDIS WHERE ARE YOU!' a loud voice bellowed as the pounding of feet got closer. The lion cub shivered slightly, something which the Doctor picked up on.

'I take it you're Rudis then?' he smirked at the insolent lion, who was looking around for a place to hide. But he was too slow, as soon the source of the noise burst out into the open. A large fierce looking, angry male lion glared around the opening they were in, taking in the three humans, and the small lion cub. His dark eyes narrowed, he ruffled his shaggy mane and twitched his long tail in boiling rage.

'HUMANS! STEP AWAY FROM MY YOUNG! RUDIS COME HERE!' he roared, making them all jump.

'Now you're gonna get it' Rudis smirked at them before he trotted off towards the adult lion.

'Wipe that look off your face young man, you're in big trouble!' the male lion growled at the cub, whose ears slumped down slightly. Once the cub was by his front legs, the adult lion looked back at the three time travellers. He slowly started to approach them, looking murderous. The Doctor discreetly stepped forwards, putting himself in front of Rose and Craig protectively.

'So, you think that you can just barge into our territory and take my son did you? Think I would just stand back and let you did you? Well you most certainly were wrong! GRRRRAHHHHH!' the lion roared as he pounced at them, forcing the three of them all to dive out of his path.

Thankfully he missed them with his claws, but he wasn't done yet. He circled back around towards them, prowling in a circle, glaring at them all. Rudis was sniggering slightly, obvious happy with the trouble he had caused.

'If you think I'm just going to let you walk away after threatening my family, you're in for the time of your life' the lion's eyes flashed dangerously.

'Hang on, hang on… we didn't threaten anyone. We only came here because that cub of yours talked to my friend. We came because we were curious, not to hurt or threaten anyone!' the Doctor said loudly, his arms raised in a surrendering position.

'Liar! You seek me and my family as others do, you want us for yourself, but I shall see to it that we always stay free' the lion growled in response.

'But we didn't. We didn't do anything to your cub, we swear!' Rose cried in alarm as he started to come closer.

'Is it true Rudis?' the lion looked at his cub.

'Well… err…' Rudis looked conflicted in what he should say. On the one hand, he would find it fun to get these humans in trouble with his dad just to see their fear and wounds, but on the other, if his dad found out he had lied, he'd be in for it big time! He decided on the truth.

'No, they didn't hurt or threaten me in anyway' he shook his head.

'Fine, I will let you go… for now' the lion grumbled as he walked past them to his son's side.

'But… why are you here, I don't understand' the Doctor wanted to know.

'It has nothing to do with you. Now if you value your continued existence I would suggest leaving our territory immediately' the lion glared challengingly at him. The Doctor was about to open his mouth to argue, when for the third time that night, another disturbance occurred nearby.

'FEROX! FEROX!' a high pitched voice of a female was screaming in the darkness. Then, from the same direction the male lion had come, a female beautiful lioness appeared, and she seemed very distressed.

'What is it Leaena?' the male lion, whose name was clearly Ferox, asked in panic, his growls and grumbled evaporating from his voice. Shear and undisguised panic lined his voice now. it was rather strange to see such a large lion in such a stricken state.

'HE'S BACK! THE HUNTER'S BACK!' the female, Leaena, shrieked in terror. The Doctor, Rose, and Craig all just looked at each other in bewilderment. Who was this hunter, why was there a family of talking lions on earth, and more importantly, just what exactly had they stumbled into this time?

**...**

**And that's the first part of Katz. So yeah, I think you can see why it's a bit too fluffy for the main story, Talking Lions, a weird idea but fun to write : ) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I'm not too sure when the next part will be up, but hopefully it won't be too long : )**


	10. Katz, An Endangered Species

**Hey! So, not much to say, other than I know I should have put this up ages ago and I'm sorry I didn't, the usual : ) Oh, and this is chapter ten, which means that this is the first quarter mark for this set of stories, yay! Anyway, Doctor Who isn't mine, but Craig Tyler and this adventure both are. Hope you enjoy : )**

**...**

**Katz – An Endangered Species**

The male lion, Ferox, rounded on the three of them, looking absolutely livid. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and his jaws opened in a fierce snarl.

'YOU! YOU CAME HERE TO DISTRACT ME!' he roared at them; spit flying from his mouth as he began to prowl towards them.

'What?!' the Doctor asked, his jaw dropping. Why, why did absolutely _everyone_ in the universe think they were the bad guys?

'THE HUNTER SENT YOU TO DISTRACT ME NO DOUBT!' Ferox yelled.

'Get 'em Dad' Rudis cried, clearly enjoying himself as he laid down, making himself comfortable as he watched the entertainment before him.

'Be quiet Rudis' the mother, Leaena hushed him.

'Ferox there's absolutely no proof that they're involved with the hunter' she said to Ferox.

'And there's no saying they aren't. They showed up at the same time, that's reason enough to suspect them' Ferox growled in her direction before he turned back to the Doctor, Rose, and Craig who were backing away from him. He looked at them for a split second, before he pounced. Rose gave a small scream before the Doctor gently pushed her backwards.

Then they were running. They could hear Ferox's loud bounding footsteps behind them, his roars echoing in their ears.

'THIS WAY' the Doctor sounded as he grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her through the safari grounds, causing Ferox to just miss her by inches.

'YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME' Ferox howled at them as the trio ran faster from him. They leapt over the fence, but that wasn't going to stop the enraged lion, and he merely burst through it, sending chucks of wood everywhere.

'FASTER CRAIG!' Rose screamed as she and the Doctor were running ahead of him.

The Tardis was in sight now, and they headed as fast as they could towards it. The Doctor and Rose made it and hastily fumbled with the key to unlock it.

'DOCTOR!' Craig yelled as he sprinted towards the police box, just as the Doctor managed to get the key in the keyhole and turned it. He and Rose literally threw the doors open and rushed inside, getting out of the way just in time for Craig to leap through the doorway. They slammed the doors shut, just before Ferox reached them.

They heard him collide with the doors, before there was this constant thudding noise. He was clearly ramming his body against the wooden doors again and again, trying to break through.

'OPEN UP! LET ME IN! I ORDER YOU! WHEN I GET MY PAWS ON YOU I'LL RIP YOUR BLEEDING HEADS OFF!' they heard him yelling, beside himself with rage.

'Yikes, that is one foul mouthed lion' Rose panted, and the three of them let out a small laugh before they redrew further into the Tardis and away from the doors.

'He can't get in though, right?' Rose turned to the Doctor, a little more nervous now.

'No, we're safe in here' the Doctor assured her.

'And what do we do now?' Rose asked nervously.

'Now, I want to find out what a family of talking lions is doing here' the Doctor said briskly.

'Oh, well I'll just go back outside and ask shall I?' Craig said sarcastically. How in the universe were they going to figure that out whilst stuck in the Tardis.

'You could, but I vague my face the way it is, so I don't want to get slapped by your mother telling her you got mauled to death by a lion' the Doctor said smiling smugly.

'Oh thank you, nice to know you care' Craig pretended to pout.

'You know that I do' the Doctor smiled serenely at Craig before he turned on the spot and headed towards the main corridor.

'Where are we going?' Rose asked as she and Craig followed him.

'The Library, see if we can find anything on talking lions, or alien lions' the Doctor said as he led the way to the amazing library that the Tardis housed, one which had its very own swimming pool, which both Tylers found weird but chose not to comment on.

'What, aren't there any talking lions through history of something?' Rose asked.

'There are, but in the far future, plus they look a little different. Nope, there are no lions that can talk and look exactly the same as your average lion, something else is going on here' the Doctor said as they turned a corner.

'And you think the answers in the Library?' Craig almost scoffed.

'Could be, greatest weapons ever made books' the Doctor grinned as they reached said room where the 'weapons' were held.

…

'Doctor, there's nothing here' Craig sighed as he put down the thick heavy volume which he had spent the last twenty minutes flicking through. It was the fourth book he had looked through, they'd been there for ages, and still had yet to find anything. Rose was looking doubtful too now, but the Doctor wasn't giving up yet.

'You were the one that put us onto this so you can't complain about it now' the Doctor reminded him in an annoying sing-song sort of voice.

'Maybe he's right Doctor, I don't think we're going to find the answer by just sitting here' Rose sighed as she put her book down on a table.

'Maybe not _why_ they're here, but _what_ they are is another matter' he grinned widely at the two blondes in the room. Rose put her hands on her hips and arranged her face into a stern expression.

'What have you found?' she asked in a no nonsense voice.

'Come look at this' he ordered and Rose and Craig both moved around the table to look at the book he was holding. It was really old, and the pages had yellowed with age. Written in ink was a large paragraph of text, next to an illustration of what seemed to be a cloud of floating specks surrounding a dog. Below this image was another, of the same dog but with its eyes glowing slightly.

'They're Sirimalies' the Doctor grinned, happy to have found what he thought was a plausible answer.

'Siri…whaties?' Craig asked in confusion.

'Sirimalies. They're an ancient race, in fact they're so old they were thought to be extinct, that's why I didn't think of them before' the Doctor began to explain.

'But if they're extinct, it can't be them' Rose pointed out.

'Unless only one family survived. You see the Sirimalies died out seeing as they never had a physical form' the Doctor replied.

'They don't have bodies?' Craig asked interestedly.

'Nope, or at least, not one that anybody has even seen before. Nobody knows what a Sirimaly looks like when they're not inside someone else's body' the Doctor stated.

'You mean they use hosts to survive' Rose guessed and the Doctor nodded excitedly, happy that as always Rose had got it right.

'Exactly. The legends say that the Sirimalies would take over the bodies of animals and live out their life inside them. That's why they died out. Having no physical form of their own, Sirimalies couldn't really breed properly. Half their offspring were real versions of the animals their parents had taken over' the Doctor told them.

'So why would someone be hunting them?' Craig wondered aloud.

'No idea, but if it is that last of the Sirimalies then we need to protect them' the Doctor said with determination as he stood up, leading them from the room.

'How though? That lion isn't likely to listen to us' Rose pointed out as they walked back down the corridor.

'He might if we tell him we know he's a Sirimaly' the Doctor countered.

'And what if he's still outside and attacks before we get the chance?' Craig asked as they reached the control room.

'Hum, good point, I'll check' the Doctor nodded, going over to the scanner and turning it on so that he could see what was directly outside the door. He was relieved to see that the Sirimaly-Lion had gone, although that would mean they'd have to go find him again. He was about to tell Rose and Craig the news, when suddenly the scanner started flashing, and he tuned it again.

The screen turned back, and he a holographic image of the solar system on it. And above the earth at that very second, over Africa to be specific, the Tardis was detecting the signal of some kind of spacecraft.

'Uh oh, we've got company' he said softly.

'What is it, is he still out there?' Rose asked. The Doctor turned off the screen to look up at her and Craig.

'No, he's gone. But the Tardis just detected a spaceship over the earth, or more specifically, right over Africa' the Doctor said quietly.

'The hunter?' Rose asked nervously.

'Probably. Come on, we need to go warn the Sirimalies' the Doctor said as he led them out the door. It was pitch black by now, and they could hardly see anything. How they were going to find the family of lions the Doctor had no idea, but if the last of the Sirimalies were counting on him he had no choice.

The three of them set off, careful to make sure they didn't trip in the darkness, when they nearly jumped out of their skins. The entire area was suddenly cast in a vivid green light that illuminated everything in sight, casting eerie shadows everywhere. The source of the light was up in the sky, and was a huge metal disc like object. It he a long pole running out the top and bottom of it, looking like a strange sort of spinning top.

'Oh crap' the Doctor whispered as the Spaceship moved on, taking the green light with it.

'And that would be the hunter. But what do they want with a bunch of talking lions?' Craig asked the same question as Rose had earlier. The Doctor still didn't have an answer.

'Come on, we have to find them first' the Doctor shouted, grabbed their hands and dragging them off in the direction the light was moving in.

…

The three of them ran after the light, but were slowly losing it. It was lucky for them that it suddenly stopped, and up ahead they heard roaring and fearful crying. The sprinted onwards, and just as they pushed their way through some bushes, the spaceship vanished from sight.

'I hope we're not too late' the Doctor muttered as they emerged into a clearing. He was right, they weren't too late, because lying on the ground ahead of them was the lion, Ferox, lying on his side but bleeding from a large gaping wound running down his body. Curled up beside him were two small lion cubs, one absolutely tiny, and the other was crying in a high pitched voice, one different to that of Rudis. The Doctor frowned, that cheeky little cub wasn't there, and neither was Leaena.

'Oh my gosh' Rose cried as she went to rush forwards to help the injured creature.

'Careful!' the Doctor quickly warned her, but he was moving forwards too. They knelt down beside the lion, who was out cold, and the two cubs were too distressed to even notice them. Around Ferox's wound was a huge scold mark, and green specs of dust. And it stank! Whatever had caused that wounds was definitely not human.

'Come on, we have to get him to the Tardis' the Doctor said urgently.

'But we can't lift him, he's too big' Craig pointed out. The Doctor frowned, before he had an idea.

'Stay here, I'll be back in a moment' he cried, before he sprinted off back into the bushes, and moments later the sound of his footsteps was gone.

'Where do you think he's going?' Rose wondered.

'The Tardis, for what I don't know' Craig shrugged. They didn't have long to find out though, because at that very moment, the sound of the Tardis could be heard, and suddenly it was like a wind had surrounded Rose, Craig, and the three lions. The two humans looked around in wonder as the Tardis literally materialised around them, and as it fully appeared, they found themselves in the control room.

'There, easy. Now come on, we have to get him to the Med Bay' the Doctor grinned at them as he laid a large rug down on the grated floor. Rose and Craig understood what his idea was, and gently rolled the lion onto it. Then they both grabbed a corner each, whilst the Doctor held the front side in the middle, and the carefully carried the lion through the corridors, into the Med-Bay.

'Right, I'll get him sorted out, you two go try and find something out from those two cubs in the control room' the Doctor ordered as they lowered the sleeping lion onto one of the beds lining the room.

'Got it' Rose as she and Craig quickly left the room.

'Right then Ferox, the Doctor is in' the Doctor said as he picked up a large jar of anti-septic and a weird alien medical device.

…

Rose sighed in frustration. She and Craig had returned to find both the cubs crying their eyes out. All she had managed to get out of them were their names. The older cub, a female lion cub, was called Dulcis and was Rudis' twin sister. The baby cub was only a few weeks old, and was a girl called Bellus.

But beyond that, Dulcis was too distressed about her father to tell Rose anything about the hunter, or where her mother and brother were or what had happened to them. In the end she had picked both the cubs up and rocked them soothingly, until eventually they had fallen asleep. She had then placed them on the captain's seat, and had gone back to the Med Bay with Craig.

They pushed open the closed Med-Bay's door, and saw the Doctor using a strange sort of laser to seal up Ferox's wound. He grinned up at them as they approached.

'Excellent timing, you can help me with this' he grinned, holding up a long roll of bandage. As the three of them got to work, the Doctor turned to face them.

'Did you get anything out of them' he asked curiously.

'No, other than their names, which are Dulcis and Bellus, they were too upset to tell us anything. They're asleep in the control room' Rose shook her head.

'Oh well, it was worth a try' the Doctor said as they finished wrapping the bandage around Ferox. Just as they took a step back, his eyes began to flutter open. When they did, he groggily looked around, before they landed on the Doctor, Rose, and Craig.

'YOU!' he bellowed, instantly enraged.

'Oh shit, here we go again' Craig sighed. Attacked by a lion, twice in one day! So not his idea of fantastic!

**...**

**And there's the next chapter : ) So, please let me know your thoughts about this chapter, or about this and the other story in general. I hope you liked it, and the next chapter should be up soon : )**


	11. Katz, The Ringmaster of The Circus

**Hello! Another update so soon : ) Yeah, that's because I want to get Katz and the next adventure done quickly because then Jack will be in this story, and he'll be in Three of a Kind, The Stuff of Legends in the next few chapters, so lots of Jack to be going about! Not complaining about that! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please enjoy and note that although Craig Tyler and Katz are both mine, Doctor Who is not. Please enjoy.**

**...**

**Katz – The Ringmaster of the Circus**

Before any of them cold even blink, Ferox had leapt up and was coming straight at them. The Doctor, Rose, and Craig all raised their arms to shield their heads, but it was unnecessary as just before the lion reached them, there was a bright flash of white light, and when it had died down they could see a strange sort of glittering cage, reaching from the ceiling to the floor, with Ferox sealed inside it.

'Let me out, LET ME OUT!' he bellowed, spit flying everywhere. He was ramming his head against the cage, but it held tight, like some kind of strange impenetrable force-field.

'Containment Vortex, curtsey of the Tardis, thanks dear' the Doctor grinned. There was an appreciative hum from the Tardis, clearing a response to his words. Rose and Craig let out a breath of relief that at least Ferox couldn't attack them now.

'IF YOU DON'T LET ME OUT…' Ferox started to threaten.

'You'll do what? You ain't going nowhere until you've calmed down' the Doctor told him. Ferox growled and raged and slashed at the cage, but it didn't flicker or fade, it remained strong and held the lion in his place.

'Why are you so angry at us? The Doctor's the one who helped you!' Rose told him, angry at his refusal to listen.

'I DON'T NEED YOUR KIND OF HELP!' the lion roared in response.

'Alright, that's enough, let's leave him to calm down' the Doctor said, gently steering Rose and Craig towards the door, the sound of the lion's furious yells and threats following them on their way.

…

They waited a full ten minutes before going back into the Med Bay, only this time, they took Dulcis and Bellus in with them. In hind sight that may not have been the best idea, because the instant Ferox saw Rose and Craig carrying one of the sleeping cubs each, his anger returned instantly.

'RELEASE MY YOUNG! NOW!' he fumed at them in greeting.

'It's OK, they're fine, we just brought them so you could see them' Rose replied as she set down Bellus by the edge of the vortex, whilst Craig put Dulcis down next to her. Ferox looked down at them, no doubt trying to see if they had been harmed or not.

'Extend the vortex' the Doctor cried out to the room, and the vortex of light around Ferox widened, until it had engulfed Dulcis and Bellus too. Instantly Ferox curled his paws around them, pulling them close to his body protectively.

'Right, are you satisfied that we are not a threat to you or your family now?' the Doctor asked him calmly. The lion growled slightly, but took a deep breath as he calmed down.

'I suppose, for now. But if you are no threat, why are you holding us prisoner?' Ferox challenged.

'Err, let me see, because you keep trying to kill us for no reason' Rose said sarcastically.

'Oh I have plenty of reason, you work for the hunter, and he works for the Master, you're all in it together, and you want to enslave my family' Ferox said, anger in his tone but his voice was level for once.

'You've got this all wrong, I told you, we saw your son speak and were curious about how a lion could be talking, that's all. We don't know anything about any hunter or any Master' Craig shook his head.

'Tell me about them Ferox. I promise you, we're on your side; we might be able to help, help you find Leaena and Rudis' the Doctor said, slowly approaching the containment vortex so he was looking Ferox in the eyes.

The lion remained silent for nearly a minute, just looking into the Doctor eyes, searching for dishonesty. Rose and Craig remained silent and still, not wanting to spook him. After what felt like an age, Ferox replied.

'If you're lying to me, or trying to trick me, I swear I'll kill you, and you're companions' he said in a low threatening tone.

'No lies, and no tricks, I promise' the Doctor said with a slight smile.

'Alright, I will choose to believe you' Ferox nodded.

'Tell us about the hunter, what does he want with you?' the Doctor asked him again.

'My family is the last survivors of a species called the Sirimalies' Ferox began to explain.

'I've heard of them, the legends say that they could take the bodies of other life forms and live their lives inside them' the Doctor nodded.

'It is no legend, it's the truth. We had no physical existence, just a consciousness. Myself, my wife, and our three children are all Sirimalies, the last Sirimalies. We were being pursued across the galaxies, and so we fled, we came here to hide from them. But they found us, and now they have my wife and son, and they won't stop until they have captured me and my daughters, but I will not allow that to happen' Ferox growled the last part of his explanation.

'But why, that's what I don't understand, why does this hunter and his master want you so much?' the Doctor asked.

'I do not know, all I can conclude is that it must be for our ability to inhabitant other life forms, why though, I do not know' Ferox sighed.

'So basically, this hunter is working for some buyer, a space buyer, who wants a family of aliens that can take over other people's bodies, in a nutshell?' Craig asked the Doctor to confirm.

'Yep, and I want to know why. And rescue Leaena and Rudis and any other prisoners he might have on his ship' the Doctor nodded

'And how do we do that?' Rose asked him. The Doctor frowned as he tried to think up a plan.

'We need to lure the hunter out somehow. We don't have much to go on, so we need to find the hunter and follow him to the master, and Leaena and Rudis… but how do we lure him out?' the Doctor frowned thoughtfully.

'Well… to lure someone out of hiding… you need to use the right bait' Craig said, choosing his words very carefully in case he annoyed Ferox again.

'Bait? Use mean lay a trap for the hunter to flush him out?' the Doctor turned to him.

'Well, if Ferox was willing to… we could hide and when the hunter finds him, we jump into the teleport and go up to the ship with him' Craig shrugged his shoulders. The Doctor frowned, it certainly was a risky plan, but with no alternative, he turned to Ferox.

'Ferox?' he asked with raised eyebrows. Ferox frowned thoughtfully for a moment.

'How do I know this isn't just a trick?' he asked. The Doctor sighed.

'It isn't, how many times do we have to go over this?' he cried in annoyance.

'I don't know that though do I, you could be trying to get me out there just to make me an easier target' Ferox countered.

'Listen to me Ferox, right now you're wife and son are trapped on a ship god knows where, and there're only three people who will help you get them back, and that's us' the Doctor told him sincerely. Ferox just looked at him again, before he let out a growl but the lion eventually nodded his head in agreement.

'Ok, if it will save my wife and son, I shall do it' the lion finally relented

'Us too Daddy!' Dulcis cried too. Ferox regarded his two daughters for a moment, before he nodded.

'Ok, but you don't get out of my sight, understand, you don't leave my side' he said in a voice that left no room for argument.

'Right then, I guess we should head back out into the open again' the Doctor said cheerfully as he snapped his fingers and the vortex surrounding Ferox, Dulcis and Bellus faded, freeing the three lions. The Doctor waited, slightly nervous in case Ferox tried another attack, but when the adult lion just indicated for him to lead the way, the Doctor led the way back to the control room and out the doors, leading them all back into the wilderness.

…

The entire safari was still shrouded in darkness by the time they had found a large clearing suitable for Ferox to lure the hunter out too. Now the lion was pacing around in circles, keeping a very close eye on his two daughters, whilst the Doctor, Rose, and Craig were crouched in some bushes, hidden from sight. They had been waiting for nearly an hour, and Rose was getting irritated.

'How much longer are we going to wait? What if the buyer decided that two lions were enough?' she asked the Doctor irritably.

'I've travelled all over, and not once have I met a space hunter who settled for less than his whole prize, he'll be here soon' he replied calmly.

'Yeah, but the longer we wait, the chances of him coming get slimmer' Rose pointed out. But her point was made redundant, because at that exact moment, a loud whirring noise and a flash of green light filled the sky. Ferox turned on the spot and growled menacingly, placing himself protectively in front of his daughters. The Doctor, Rose, and Craig all watched anxiously, ready to jump out at any moment.

As they watched, a shadow flickered into view in the beam of light, before it became solid and fully corporal. The person looked to be human, taking the form on a man in his fifties with long white hair and a matching moustache. His eyes were bright blue, and he wore an outfit similar to their safari ones, but cream and brown with a dash of hunter in his clothing. And in addition to the large shotgun in his hands, it was a reasonably assumption for the Doctor to conclude that this was the hunter Ferox had told him about. Ferox snarled viciously at the hunter who barely batched an eyelid, but instead held up his gun.

Before anyone could do anything, he fired and a dart shot out and hit Ferox squarely in the face, right between his eyes. The lion swayed on the spot slightly, clearly drowsy with drug no doubt trying to put him to sleep but he was fighting it, forcing his eyes to stay open and struggling to remain on his feet. He was clearly fighting the drugs quite well, but Rose suspected it was because of the fact that Ferox wasn't just a lion, but an alien inside of the lion's body, which had to be giving him an advantage.

The hunter wasn't deterred though; in fact he smirked as he brought a small device out of his pocket and pressed a button, causing the beam of light to get much wider. It spread outwards until Ferox, Dulcis and Bellus were all under the light, and he raised the device again, ready to push another button.

'NOW!' the Doctor yelled to Rose and Craig just as the hunter pressed the button on the device. They leapt out of the bushes and into the beam, just as it flared up strongly again. The Doctor, Rose, and Craig saw the ground far beneath them, then a flash of green light, and then they were gone.

…

In another flash of green light, their surrounding changed around them, and when the light died down, the Doctor quickly looked around, before he grabbed Rose and Craig, covering their mouths so they didn't cry out, and stepped back, hiding underneath a large mahogany desk by a filing cabinet. The room was quite dark, cast in long dark shadows with a lone lamp hanging from the ceiling, but the room was obviously an office of some sort. The carpet was a posh red rug, and there was strange artwork covering the walls. Files and folders were set upon the desk, and in a large leather chair behind the desk they were hiding under, but thankfully with his back to the room, sat a large man in long billowing red robes, a long black top hat perched upon his head. The Doctor peered up at him, the shadows in the room making him look sinister and creepy. The man turned, and the Doctor saw his face. He had eyes so dark they were almost black, and had oily black hair flecked with grey, and a short black goatee covering his chin. He sort of reminded the Doctor of one of the His thin dark pink lips curled into a smirk as he observed the sight before him, the hunter, with Ferox, Dulcis and Bellus capture. He let out a menacing laugh, with in the darkness, made him sound like a mad super villain, which the Doctor sadly concluded, he probably was.

'Excellent! Absolutely excellent! Oh, very, very good. You have done well good fellow, very well for a human!' he said delightedly, clapping his hands together loudly. The hunter huffed slightly at the 'human' remark, which clearly showed the Doctor, that although the hunter was human, this over man was not. The man showed no response to the hunter's disapproval, and greedily turned to look at Ferox and his daughters instead.

'Oh yeah, you were quite elusive, but nobody can hide from me forever and now that I've got you all…' he trailed off with a manic grin. Ferox growled and hissed, raising his claw but the man stepped back, his hand rummaging in his pocket.

'Oh I don't think so, nobody attacks The Ringmaster' he smirked as he brought out a long set of chains. So the Ringmaster was his name the Doctor realised.

He snapped his fingers, and if controlling themselves, the chains flew out of his hands and wrapped around Ferox, Dulcis and Bellus who couldn't move out the way in time, binding them all tightly together in a heap.

'Ah hem' the hunter suddenly faked coughed, clearly trying to get the Ringmaster's attention.

'Yes' he asked dramatically as he turned with a flourish, a wicked grin lining his face..

'My money' the hunter said, holding out a hand.

'Oh yes, you see… as a travelling collector, I tend to hold quite a lot of money on my person, but since this is my first time to this primitive planet, I don't know the currency and therefore, am completely unable to pay you. Thank you for your services though human' the Ringmaster sneered at him. the Hunter's face became enraged.

'We had a deal! I give you the lions, you give me cash!' he roared angrily.

'Sorry, nothing I can do' the Ringmaster shrugged, a wide grin lining his face. The Hunter brought up his gun, aiming it at the Ringmaster.

'We'll see about that' the hunter snarled.

'That's if you ever remember' the Ringmaster taunted. The Hunter looked confused, and even more so when the Ringmaster brought up a small device with looked like a glow stick with a small button on the bottom of it.

'What's that thing?' the hunter demanded. Instead of answering, the Ringmaster held it up to the hunter's face, before he pressed the button. The stick glowed a bright pink that illuminated the entire room before the flash of light died down again. When it did, the hunter had a dim, drooling expression on his face.

'You will remember nothing of me or the lions I sent you to capture, you will remember nothing of any deal we had, or any contact you had with me. I am an alien, and aliens do not exist'

'You… do… not… exist' the Hunter said slowly, completely hypnotised, his mind erased of the entire encounter.

'Good… now than, just remember that I do not exist' the Ringmaster grinned again, before he walked over to a large device behind his desk, a sort of large black, silver and purple flashing device. The Doctor turned to looked at him, but Rose and Craig didn't, their attention still on the doped hunter.

The Ringmaster pressed a button on the strange device, and the hunter began to glow green slightly.

'You… Do…Not…Exist' he repeated, his voice still dull and confused. There was a flash of green light, and the man was gone, clearly having been return to the earth, his memory completely erased of everything he'd done recently.

'Not that that's sorted, I can finally turn you to my advantage' the Ringmaster sneered as he approached the still bound Ferox. It was then that the Doctor chose to make their presence known, and before Rose or Craig could stop him, he leapt out from under the desk.

'Sounds like you've got a busy schedule, but to get to them, you've gotta go through me and my friends' the Doctor announced. Surprized, the Ringmaster turned around with a raised eyebrow, but took a deep breath and managed to regain his smug attitude extremely quickly.

'And who pray tell are you?' he asked, like three people suddenly climbing out from under his desk was a regular occurrence for him.

'I'm the Doctor, this is Rose and Craig Tyler' the Doctor beamed as Rose and Craig both joined him in front of the desk.

'Fascinating, and what, may I ask, are you doing here?' the Ringmaster sneered at them.

'Well you see I wanna know what you want with Ferox and his family' the Doctor told him calmly. Rose had expected the Ringmaster to not bother replying, not answering the question, perhaps even tell him that it was not of his bloody business. What she didn't expect was for the Ringmaster to suddenly burst out laughing.

'Well isn't it obvious?! I assume you know what these lions really are, that they are the ancient Sirimalies. I want them for my Circus!' the Ringmaster declared proudly.

'What circus?' Rose blinked in confusion.

'The Circus' the Ringmaster turned to her like she was an idiot.

'Ah! The Circus. Not just a circus, you're from the planet called The Circus' the Doctor realised and the Ringmaster nodded in confirmation.

'The Circus is a planet in the Drovanite System, oh… five hundred thousand light years from here, a whole world literally for people to go see the Circus, it's a carnival planet for tourists' the Doctor explained for Craig and Rose's benefit.

'And how do the Sirimalies fit into that?' Craig asked the Ringmaster.

'Well just think of it, I could have quite literally any creature at my command with them in my possession. Alien or even anything on your own planet. Wouldn't you pay good money to go see a circus where… oh I don't know, there could be a swimming cat… or maybe a hula-hooping hippo… or… if I wanted to… I could even have to make a real life big Bad Wolf for me, they'll make me rich, I know it' he said laughing madly.

Craig jumped back slightly. There it was again, Bad Wolf… why? Why was it following them? How was it following them? Or maybe… what it that something actually was following them, not just the words but an actually life form, but what was it… or who was it?

'Why does it always have to be about money?' the Doctor sighed.

'Money makes the worlds go round' the Ringmaster laughed.

'So what, you take the Sirimalies and make them into your acts, like freak shows' Rose hissed at him.

'Yes, because that's what they are. They take bodies and live of them, like parasites, so yeah, they are freaks' the Ringmaster coldly replied.

'There's only one freak here and that's you!' the Doctor taunted. Gone was the Ringmaster's smug aura at that statement, one of fury and rage had taken it's place.

'HOW DARE YOU?!' he fumed as he reached into his pocket. From it he took out a dark grey black collar, like a futurist dog collar, and without warning, he threw it at the Doctor. It snapped tightly around his neck. Instantly, the Doctor was forced to his knees as he struggled to remove it.

'Doctor!' Rose shouted as she knelt down next to him, trying to help him remove it.

'Get her away' the Ringmaster said in a creepily calm voice as he withdrew another strange pen like device out of his pocket. This man sure was full of tricks. It was like a mini-microphone. And it was definitely linked to the collar, because without any control over his own actions, the Doctor pushed Rose with both hands, causing her to fall away from him.

'What…?' she blinked in confusion.

'Stand up' the Ringmaster said, and once again, the Doctor was forced to obey, and stood up straight, like a soldier before his commander.

'He's controlling him!' Craig gasped as realisation hit him.

'Indeed, observe' the Ringmaster sneered at him. it seemed as though he didn't always need to say words into the device, he just had to think of what he wanted to Doctor to do, because a moment later, the Doctor had flipped backwards through the air, landing gracefully on his hands, before he did another impressive backflip. He did three more around the office before he stopped, with both Rose and Craig looking at him in astonishment.

'It's a shock collar, its sending shocks to my muscles forcing them to act how he wants' the Doctor groaned at them. He could still speak to them, but had no control over the rest of his body.

'Correct, and you know, for your comment, I think you can join the freak show. Now… handcuff them' the Ringmaster said into his device whilst producing two sets of handcuffs from his pocket. The Doctor marched over to him, took the handcuffs and turned to Rose and Craig. They were both at a loss of what to do. They couldn't fight him off! He was their best friend! So in the end, they just gave into him.

He grabbed Rose first and handcuffed her hands before her back, before he turned to Craig. The blonde man held his hands out in front of him, and when the Doctor stood in front of him, he quickly slipped his hand into the time lord's leather jacket, stealing the sonic screwdriver and tucking it into his hoodie's pouch pocket. Thankfully, the Ringmaster, nor the Doctor or Rose saw what he had done.

'I'm sorry' the Doctor whispered as he cuffed Craig's hands too.

'Make them sit' the Ringmaster ordered, and none to gently, the Doctor was made to push them both, causing them to stumbled and fall to the ground.

'Now that you're all contained nicely, I think I'll show you to your sleeping quarters Doctor… forward march' he smirked at them all, before he turned to the door of his office, and had the Doctor march out of it, before he stepped through it himself, and slammed it shut behind him. Rose had no idea how they would get of this one, but she just knew that they would. After all, they'd always managed to before.

**...**

**And there's another one! Next chapter will have a dark twist to it, and there's a spoiler for you in itself! Anyway, hope you enjoyed, please leave me a review for anything you'd like to see at some point in my stories, and hope to see you in the next chapter : ) Keep on reading, my faithful readers : )**


	12. Katz, The Doctor's Torturous Performance

**Hello! So, here's the last chapter of Katz, and might I say, I'm quite proud of how dark this went. Warning, an adult abusive theme creeping in, just to warn you. Please know that I do not own Doctor Who, but I do own this adventure and Craig Tyler. Please enjoy : ) Read on at your own risk, before there are big cats on the prowl...**

**...**

**Katz - The Doctor's Torturous Performance**

As soon as the Ringmaster had marched out of the room, no doubt to oversee the containment of the Doctor, Craig shuffled over to where Rose was. He tucked the sonic out from where he had hidden it, in the pouch of his hoodie, and quickly pointed it at her handcuffs. It was tricky, given his own hands were cuffed and he couldn't aim it very well, but eventually he mentions to get her hands free.

'Where'd you get that?' were the first words she said as her handcuffs fell to the floor with a clatter.

'I swiped it when the Doctor handcuffed me, hurry, free me too' he said as Rose took the Sonic off him. She quickly freed his hands too and they both quickly untied their legs from their roping, before they both stood up. They rushed across the room to where Ferox, Dulcis, and Bellus were all bound and gagged, and moments later, the adult lion and his cubs were free also.

'And what, pray tell is your plan now?' Ferox growled at them without thanking them. It was clear that he was not in the least bit happy by the way that there plan had played out so far.

'Now, we get out of here and go find the Doctor, Leaena and Rudis, and stop the Ringmaster while we're at it' Craig said casually as he headed for the door.

'And how the hell do we do that?!' Ferox snapped at him.

'I dunno yet, we figure something out though, we have form' Craig shrugged him off as he left the room into a corridor. It was so dark that Craig had to keep the sonic on just to have a tiny flicker of light. He squinted through the darkness and managed to see several greyish silvery heavy metal doors lining the walls.

'Come on' he said quietly as he led the way into the darkness. He just hoped he wasn't leading them all into trouble, because an angry lion and even worse a hurt Rose were the last things he needed.

…

The Doctor glared up at the Ringmaster as the doors to a large metal cage slammed shut behind him. he had been forced to walk down to a room filled with many different species of aliens, some of which he recognised and others he didn't, but one thing united them, they were all prisoners, all of them had those horrid shock collar controlling them.

'Welcome to your new home, Acron' the Ringmaster sneered at him through the bars of his cage.

'Acron?' the Doctor blinked. If the Ringmaster thought that was his real name, he was way off!

'Oh yes, Acro nth Acrobat, catchy isn't it. You are going to be a star soon enough Acron, and you're going to help make me rich' he grinned wickedly, before he turned on the spot and strode from the dungeon like room, slamming a heavy metal door behind him. The Doctor let out a sigh. If he could just get that collar off than he could find a way to escape the cage and get back to Rose and Craig. The problem was, he couldn't move a muscle, the collar was preventing him from doing do. He sighed again, and hoped that Rose and Craig could find a way out of this for them this time.

…

'Ouch! That was my paw!' Ferox yelped after a few minutes of walking in the darkness silently.

'Sorry' Craig muttered as he turned a corner, before he quickly darted back around it, hiding against the wall. He quickly ordered all the others too in a hush tone, and once they were all pressed against the wall, Craig poked his head around the corner again.

There, in front of him, holding a flicker lantern in his hand was the Ringmaster, his leering face looking sinister in the light the candle in the lantern was casting on it. Craig waited with baited press as the Ringmaster passed their hidden place, but thanks to the darkness of the corridor, he passed them without even seeing them.

They all waited in silence, too afraid to breathe, until the light faded away into the darkness, signalling that he had gone.

'Ferox, you wait here with your children, keep out of sight, Rose, you and me are going into the room he just came out of' Craig said softly once he was sure the Ringmaster was gone.

'Fine, but if Leaena and Rudis are in there, you'd better get them out in one point' Ferox shot at him.

'We will' Rose said reassuringly. She then felt through the darkness for Craig's hand, and grasping it, the two of them continued alone round the corner. They headed straight for the door that the Ringmaster had come out of, and taking a deep breath, they pushed open the door and stepped inside.

They were in some kind of dungeon. It was the type of place Rose always imagined an animal shelter would look like, or a prison in America. Barred cages lined every wall, stacked three rows high, towering up to the ceiling. Everything in the room was cold metal, just like the rest of the spaceship, and occupying the cages were aliens and creatures beyond imagination. Things shaped like men, woman, children, and animals on earth or nothing like animals at all were everywhere. There was a rainbow of skin colours too; Red, yellow, blue, green, purple, some colours they didn't even know, and the skins were all different too. Some had leathery skin, others had scales. Some were slimy, and some had feathers. Some had many eyes and large mouths, whilst some had only one eye and no mouth at all. There was even one that didn't have a head!

They had no idea what any of them were, but they all had one thing in common, they all had shock collars around their necks. The Ringmaster had clearly been collecting aliens for his circus for a _very_ long time. Craig soon spotted Leaena and Rudis in their cages, and in the cage directly opposite the door, was exactly who they were looking for.

'Doctor!' Rose cried as she spotted him, dashing straight over to his cell door.

'Rose, Craig!' he breathed in shock as the time lord saw them both. Craig quickly brought up the sonic screwdriver and used it to open the cage door. He expected the Doctor to jump out immediately and hug them, but their friend stayed exactly where he was, crouched in the cage like a dog in a pet shop.

'Come on, he could be back any second' Craig cried at him.

'I can't move, the collar won't let me, you have to get it off me' the Doctor told him quietly. Craig brought up the sonic again, but before he could use, the lights in the room came on and dazzled them all, and blinking, Craig and Rose turned around to see the Ringmaster illuminated in the doorway. They froze like rabbits in the headlights, caught.

'Oh dear oh dear. Naughty little humans bringing into my performers quarters, I can't have that' he sneered at them dangerous as he brought up his remote control.

'No' the Doctor gasped as he pressed it. Immediately volts of electricity coursed over him, and no matter how much he tried to fight for control over his own body, the Doctor was powerless over his actions. He leapt out of his cage and before either Rose or Craig could react, he had them both by the throat, and was choking them both.

'Please, please stop! Kill me but don't make me do this!' the Doctor pleaded with the Ringmaster as his fingers closed tighter around Rose's neck. She whimpered in pain and Craig struggled to break free, but it was no use, the air was slowly being crushed from both their lungs. The Ringmaster laughed long and loud as Rose and Craig both startled to turn blue, their eyes starting to water from the lack of air getting into their lungs.

'What, so it'll be alright for someone else to kill them but not you, I guess I can oblige to that!' he cackled as he pressed the remote again. instantly the Doctor let go of both Rose and Craig, who both staggered forwards slightly, gasping for air whilst gentle touching their bruising throats.

At the same time, every cage door in the dungeon opened, and every single alien prisoner stepped out, forming a wall of bodies on each and every side of the room.

'Now, let's see shall we, you there, punch the girl' the Ringmaster said to a large, grey, rocky skinned alien whose body was heavily muscled and clearly very strong. Rose tried to duck, but it was no use. The stony creature's fist swung around and smashed into her face, knocking her to the floor, her nose bleeding heavily, along with her lip which had been busted.

'Rose!' Craig cried as he helped her to her feet. The Ringmaster laughed that insane laugh of his again.

'Stop it! They've done nothing to you! Let them go!' the Doctor pleaded, wanting so much to help them but couldn't move his legs at all.

'Now then, you can beat the man' the Ringmaster carried on, ignore the Doctor's pleads completely. This time a large creature covered in shell like armour with long lethal looking claws and a long thick tail like a pythons advanced on Craig, who brought his arms up to try and defend himself. But it was no use, as the creature swung lunged at him with its claws, slashing a long gash through Craig's hoodie and leaving a large gaping wound across his chest, which dripped blood all the way down to the floor and left Craig breathless, and in immense pain.

'Stop this! Stop it or I'll kill you! I swear it! I'LL KILL YOU!' the Doctor was screaming now, tears running down his face as he desperately fought the influence the collar was having over his body but to no avail.

'Oh really' the Ringmaster leered at him, before pressing his remote and causing the Doctor to fall to his knees, screaming in agony as electricity coursed through him.

'Stop it! Let him go!' Rose screamed at the Ringmaster. This was torture! If he wasn't attacking the Tylers, he was hurting the Doctor!

'Oh, she cares about him too, well this might just break you both then!' the Ringmaster cackled, clearly enjoying his sadistic torture, as he brought the remote up again. Instantly, the Doctor was back on his feet and was forced to stride forwards until he was behind Rose. He was made to grab a fistful of her hair and yank her head back, gaining a cry of shock and pain from the woman in the process. And then without missing a beat, the Ringmaster pressed the remote again, and the Doctor's free hand swung around and gripped onto Rose's shirt. He then proceeded to rip it from her chest, the Doctor screaming at the Ringmaster to stop. Once the shirt was removed, he made the Doctor stick his hand down her t-shirt, grabbing her breasts. Rose thrashed and screamed as the Doctor yelled from him to stop as Craig rounded on the Ringmaster.

'LEAVE THEM ALONE!' he bellowed as he charged at the vicious alien, who merely smirked at him and pressed the remote one again, forcing the alien which had slashed his chest to swing it's heavy tail around to hit him. Craig ducked as it came and it missed him, but hit Rose, knocking her out of the Doctor's arms and too the floor with a thud. She whimpered slightly as she backed away from the Doctor, tears in her eyes. Looking up at his face, she saw he was crying too, his expression so guilty it hurt her to see it on him.

'Are you all having fun yet, are you enjoy the circus?' the Ringmaster taunted them as he had the Doctor grabbed both Rose and Craig by their hair again, dragging them both to their feet again.

'LOOK, I GET IT! I GET IT! JUST STOP, I'M BEGGING YOU! JUST STOP THIS!' the Doctor choked out, his voice harsh with tears now. He couldn't stop himself, he couldn't fight the control… and now he'd, he'd practically sexually assaulted Rose! Oh god, oh god, what if the Ringmaster had him rape her?! He'd never get over that. In fact, if that happened, he would actually probably kill himself!

'Kill them!' the Ringmaster hissed darkly, pressing the remote one final time. the Doctor held them both in place as the two aliens, and several others now, advanced. They started killing, punching, battering, and slashing at Rose and Craig's bodies, hurting them, slowly and excruciatingly killing them both. Just when the Doctor was screaming for it to stop, begging to be the one killed instead of them, the sound of running feet could be heard coming from beyond the door, and before anyone could react, the door burst open to reveal Ferox lunging through the air.

He charged towards the Ringmaster, who yelped in shock as the lion rammed into him and sent him crashing to the ground, the remote control spinning out of his hand across the foot. It skidded to a stop directly in front of Rose. It didn't matter how much pain she was in, how much it hurt her to move her arms and legs at all, she knew she had to stop this before she and her brother were both killed, and so summoning the remains of her strength, she swung her leg out, and slammed her foot down on the remote, twisting her heel into it, crushing it into a thousand tiny pieces. The assault on both her and Craig stopped immediately, and they both fell to the floor. The Doctor fell to his knees behind them, and pulled them both into a hug bear hug.

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Oh god, I'm so sorry you two, I'm so sorry Rose' he whispered to them, his tears still falling fast as he clung to them in the most desperate of hugs. They both weakly hugged him back as the three of them, still hugging each other furiously, stagger to their feet.

'Leaena! Rudis!' Ferox cried in delight as he jumped through the crowd to where his wife and son both were.

'NOOOOOOOOOO!' the Ringmaster screamed in rage as he saw the collars around every alien in the room's neck falling to the ground with a loud clatter, their occupants freed from him. They all turned around to face the sadistic creature, who leapt to his feet, his face enraged whilst practically hopping fury.

'YOU! YOU DID THIS!' he screamed at the Doctor.

'MY CIRCUS IS RUINED BECAUSE OF YOU DOCTOR!' he howled in fury.

'YOUR CIRCUS?! HOW DARE YOU! AFTER WHAT YOU FORCED ME TO DO TO ROSE! AFTER YOU HAD ME ATTACK HER AND GROPE HER AND HURT BOTH MY BEST FRIENDS! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU, YOU PIECE OF FUCKING SCUM!' the Doctor bellowed back. The Ringmaster glared at him, shaking with rage as a huge vein was popping in his forehead, before he began laughing, a mad, and so insane laugh it sent shivered down Craig's spine.

'You'll pay for this Doctor, I promise you, you'll pay, you and your damned companions!' he sneered as he brought something out of his pocket. It was a small box like remote, with a large red button on it. He brought it up to show them all.

'I'll start again given the circumstances, I'll collect new acts, I swear it to you, and this time, you won't get in my way, I can be certain of that' he leered at the Doctor, Rose and Craig, and before they could blink, he brought his other hand up and slammed it down on the button.

'Self-Destruct Sequence initiated' a voice over the PA system told them all. Instantly the crowd of aliens began to panic as the Doctor glared at the Ringmaster.

'Doctor! What do we do?!' Rose asked, clearly scared and nearly at breaking point.

'Nothing you can do you stupid tart' the Ringmaster sneered at her.

'Total destruction immanent in… 120 seconds. 119, 118, 117…' the voice began to count down.

'Well, I hope you've enjoyed your final show Doctor, it's a shame really, I'm sure you couldn't brought a lot of fame to my circus, but maybe this way is better. Because as Ringmaster, I always get the last word. Goodbye Doctor, goodbye' he laughed loudly as he disappeared into a beam of bright blue lights, and vanished as it faded away.

'Damn it, teleport!' the Doctor fumed as he grabbed Rose's and Craig's hands. The other aliens were all screaming now, all shouting and panicking as the voice kept on counting down.

'Doctor, what can we do now, how do we get out?' Craig immediately asked him, trying to stay calm despite the fact that he could only have 90 seconds to live.

'Come on, run!' the Doctor bellowed in response, beginning to sprint from the room. He led them into the corridors, which were all lit up now, the lights flashing red as alarms blared, no doubt because of the self-destruct.

'Where are we going?' Rose asked softly as they went. She eyes were still watery as she wiped at them. It wasn't the Doctor's fault, and she knew that, but that had really frightened her. The Doctor, hurting her like that! Groping her! It was heart-breaking. But she refused to let it mess things up between them, let it ruin their friendship or the way she was starting to feel about him, because if she did, then the Ringmaster would have won, and she was not about to let that happen.

'The Ringmaster's office. When we teleported in there the first time, I saw the actual teleport unit, that's how the Ringmaster teleported out. We can use that to teleport us and everyone else off the ship' the Doctor explained as they skidded around the corner, looking straight ahead and deliberately not looking at either of his companions. He was too ashamed, to guilt ridden to look them in the eye. He'd hurt Rose! He had sworn to protect her, he'd sworn it! And it wasn't an alien that had hurt her; it was him, a monster worse than anything else in the universe. He had actually hurt the woman he loved! It broke both his hearts just thinking about that scream Rose had made, it shattered them to bits. He couldn't fix this, he wanted to, wanted to more than anything, but he didn't know how.

They rounded the corner in silence, and charged straight through the door to then Ringmaster's office.

'Total destruction in 30 seconds… 29… 28…' the countdown reminded them.

'Right, come on, come on' the Doctor muttered, taking the sonic Craig offered him and head straight to the large black device behind the desk. Rose hadn't spotted it the first time, but it was a large black disk with two large handled forming rails around it, with purple flashing lights on the disk part of it.

'Right, setting this to scan for every life form on board' the Doctor muttered.

'16… 15… 14… 13' the countdown carried on.

'Readying the transmat to pull them all out, setting the destination back down to earth' the Doctor said quickly, working faster than he ever had before.

'7… 6… 5… 4' the countdown warned.

'NOW!' he yelled, using the sonic to activate the teleport.

'2… 1' the countdown said before the entire ship exploded into a huge fireball in the sky, just as the three of the vanished into a bright light, and then they were gone.

…

With another flash of light, the Doctor, Rose, and Craig hit the ground. Jumping to their feet, the three of them looked around in wonder, trying to take in their many surroundings. They were back in the clearing, the clear they had been taken to the ship in, and they weren't alone either. Every single alien on the Ringmaster's ship had been transported down to earth at the same time, the Doctor had managed to save them all. Only he didn't feel too great about his victory, he felt to guilty about what he had done to Rose, or what he could have done.

The aliens were all chattering and looking about in confusion and wonder, whilst many were just expressing their relief to be alive. They were being very noisy, and it took several minutes for the Doctor to get their attention.

'Excuse me, hello, excuse me…' he was trying to catch their attention, but was having little luck.

'OI, SHUT IT!' Rose bellowed at the top of her voice, and silence fell. Thank god she inherited Jackie's shouting gene.

'Thank you! You are currently on the planet Earth. I have a ship nearby which is capable of taking you all home! If you kindly follow my companions, they will lead you there. Once there, please do not touch anything until I am there. Thank you' he called to them, and after a few moments, the crowd began to disperse, with Rose and Craig leading the group in the direction of the Tardis. Eventually, it was just him, Ferox, Leaena, Rudis, Dulcis, and Bellus left in the clearing. The Doctor slowly approached Ferox.

'And what of you now Ferox, are you staying here?' he asked him calmly once everyone else was gone.

'We are, we shall live out the remainder of our existence here, hopefully without the threat of the Ringmaster looming over us anymore' Ferox nodded calmly for a change.

'Oh I think he's long gone. Well, I wish I could say it was a pleasure…' the Doctor said with a small smile.

'But you would be lying, as would I if I were to repeat the sentiments. But Doctor, do not blame yourself for what happened to your companions, it was not your fault' Ferox said to him as the Doctor started to walk away. The time lord turned back to face the family of lions.

'Wasn't it?' he asked him wearily, and without waiting for an answer, he turned and began walking again, leaving the family behind him, along with yet another adventure. He just hoped that he could put the bad memories of this behind him too, but somehow, he doubted that.

…

It was hours later and the Doctor was pacing in his room. He had taken all the aliens to a planet where tourists often flew in. they'd all get their own way home from there. After the Tardis was empty except for the three usual inhabitants, he'd taken both Rose and Craig to the Med Bay and had sewn them both up and treated their injuries. He hadn't been able to look either of them in the eye, and so all their attempts to reassure him that they didn't blame him and what had happened wasn't his fault fell on deaf ears. He simply treated them both without uttering a single word, before he locked himself in his room.

He wanted to go to sleep, but he just couldn't, he stomach was too knotted, his hearts too broken to allow sleep to come to him. He couldn't take it much more, and so he left his room, and headed to Rose's. He knocked on the door, and when he didn't get a reply, he entered regardless.

There she was; lying tucked up in bed in her pink pyjamas. She was fast asleep, so he quietly crept over to the desk the Tardis had given her and moved its chair over to be by her bed. He gently picked up her hand and rested his chin on it.

'Oh my Rose, I am so sorry about today, I'm so, so sorry. God, I hope you don't wanna leave after what I did today, but then, I guess I wouldn't blame you if you did' he whispered to her quietly.

'I won't leave' she whispered back, causing him to jump.

'You're awake?' he asked in surprize.

'Yeah, yeah, I'm awake, I never got to sleep' she said as she pushed herself up with her arms so she was sitting up. The Doctor just looked at her.

'I mean it, I won't leave you because of what happened' she repeated her words to him.

'But I, I mean I…' he mumbled over his words.

'Doctor, if I was possessed by a monster, and I hurt you, what would you tell me if I felt guilty afterwards?' she asked him with raised eyebrows.

'I'd say 'It's not your fault'' he replied.

'It's not your fault' she told him sincerely.

'But if I'd have fought it…' he trailed off.

'He might have killed you! And anyway, it's not like you… it's not like you raped me. I mean, obviously I wish it hadn't happened, but it was in no way what-so-ever your fault, do ya hear me?' she told him firmly.

'You mean it?' the Doctor asked her softly.

'I promise you. It wasn't your fault and I don't blame you. Please Doctor, don't dwell on this, don't let it get in between us, because if you do, not only does the Ringmaster win, but you'd break my heart in the process' she told him, her voice quietly and teary now. The Doctor didn't reply, he just wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, so glad that he wasn't going to lose her and that she didn't hated him. Rose hugged him back, and for a long time after that, that was how they stayed. They didn't talk about it again in the days to come, they just put it behind them with the rest of the crap they had seen, and just like they always did, they managed to carry on.

**...**

**And that's Katz! Wow, I'm rather amazed at how dark this went, especially when it started off so fluffy : ) So, I hope you guys liked this dark twist, and please leave a review! Next adventure will be called 'Insanity on a Canvas' and once that ones done, Jack will finally be in this, yeah! See ya later : )**


	13. Insanity on a Canvas, A Day at the Beach

**Hey! Here's the next one : ) Insanity on a Canvas! Reason why it didn't make the main story? Simple, I didn't really have room. Between Father's Day and The Empty Child we already have The Darkest Knight and Attack of the Zangin, and I didn't want to make people wait even longer to get to Jack. So I had to pick which one had to go, and this was it. But there are some priceless Doctor/Rose fluffy moments in this storyline that I couldn't resist writing, so Insanity on a Canvas has earned a place in The Lost Tales of Craig Tyler instead : ) It is set between Attack of the Zangin and The Empty Child, and is the last adventure in season 1 with just the Doctor, Rose, and Craig. After this story, Jack will be in this too, ooh, exciting : ) I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review : )**

**Insanity on a Canvas**

**Insanity on a Canvas –A day at the Beach**

As Rose started walking down the corridor from her room, she was surprized when the Doctor suddenly popped his head out of his own room. She was wearing a lilac coloured T-shirt and blue jeans. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and she wore short black boots.

'Hey, go to the wardrobe, go to the 1930s section and pick out some beachwear' he told her with a grin.

'Err, why?' she asked with raised eyebrows. That was a pretty weird greeting after all.

'Because I've got a plan for the day. Today Rose Tyler, you and me are going to the beach' he grinned and Rose burst out laughing.

'You, on a beach?!' she howled with laughter. The Doctor grumbled slightly but couldn't help the small smile that was curling onto his face as he watched her laughing happily.

'Why is it that every time I suggest us going somewhere like a safari or the beach that you and Craig take the mickey out of me?' he asked, pretending to be dramatically upset. He couldn't help but chuckle at his own 'Mickey' pun though.

'It's because you have to change into different dress wear' she giggled, and the Doctor nodded slightly. Maybe it was just a human sense of humour thing that he wouldn't understand. Before he could reply, Craig's door opened and he stepped out. He was wearing a bright blue long hoodie and black trousers over blue converse trainers.

'Ok, what are you two doing hanging around in the corridor?' he asked, pretending to be suspicious, like he'd just caught them in the act or something. He knew he hadn't, but it was still funny.

'Get your sun cream Craig, we're going to the beach' Rose informed him, and he laughed.

'The idea of him in a swimsuit?' Rose asked, pointing at the Doctor.

'Yeah' Craig giggled as he calmed down. The Doctor looked mildly offended, but shrugged it off and grinned evilly.

'I don't really go that way Craig' the Doctor laughed and Craig gapped at him, before the blonde smirked.

'Well I'm sure once you've seen me in beachwear that I'll change your mind' Craig winked. Rose was howling with laughter by this point, and the Doctor laughed loudly.

'1930s, get something for that period from the wardrobe so you don't start a riot' he told them, giving them both a little push in the direction of the wardrobe.

'Why the beach?' Craig asked curiously.

'Well, after everything that's happened recently, what with your Dad, and Mark, and the Zangin, I thought we could all use a little relaxation, a little fun' the Doctor replied with a shrugged.

'What about the safari?' Craig asked him with a raise eyebrow. He winced slightly as he remembered how that particular adventure had ended, what that foul man had made the Doctor do to Rose.

'Craig, that was anything but relaxing! Nope, the beach it is, and a beach in Spain at that, so go get changed' he ordered with a grin, pushing past the guilt that had momentarily resurfaced it ugly head, and nodding and smiling, Rose and Craig both followed him in the direction of the wardrobe.

…

Laughing happily, the three of them took their first steps out of the Tardis and closed the down behind them. They had changed into 1930s era swimwear, and the three of them couldn't stop laughing at how they looked.

Rose, to be fair, carried off the look quite well, but then in the Doctor's opinion, she was beautiful enough to carry of any look and look amazing. She was dressed in a in a short swimwear piece that clung to her curves and highlighted her excellent figure. She had draped a shawl around her shoulders to protect them from the sun and wore a large yellow hat with Craig had joked and said it was a flying saucer, and wore a sarong around her waist, as to not show too much skin for the time period they were in, after all, she didn't want to be arrested for indecent exposure!

Craig on the other hand had point blank refused to wear anything that the men wore at the beach in the 1930s. He said it looked too… macho, and ignored the Doctor telling him they needed to blend in. So instead he wore what he'd wear to the beach in his own time frame. He wore white three-quarter length shorts, and a very brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt, orange with yellow and green palm-trees running up the left side of it.

The two of them had nearly length themselves stupid when the Doctor had walked out of the wardrobe, dressed in a pair of dark blue tight fitting shorts that clung to his legs, and a white and blue stripe vest and especially his flip-flop sandals. He had once again ignored them as the three of them carried out the things that they'd need for their day of fun and relaxation.

Rose had her arms full with towels, books, a beach bag, and a picnic basket. She'd left the two men to find everything they'd need and had gone to the kitchen so that they could have some lunch later and enjoy it at the beach. Craig was carrying a deck-chair under each arm, rather awkwardly, and the Doctor carried a third one, a large colourful beach umbrella in the other.

'Ok boys, it's essential that we find the perfect spot' Rose said as she managed to balance her load and closed the Tardis door behind them.

'Gotcha' Craig nodded seriously as he began to look around the beach they were on. It was absolutely beautiful, with clear blue skies, and crystal clear jade blue water. The sand was pure gold, and deep crevasses in the cliffs made the beach quite secluded. But it was also packed full of families, all enjoying the beautiful weather that the sun was showering them with. It was pleasantly warm, and as they took their first steps into the sand, Craig felt that lovely feeling of warm dry sand passing through your toes.

'Err… aren't all spots the same?' the Doctor asked in confusion, causing Rose to look at him in shock.

'Oh my dear Doctor you can be so naïve!' she cried and Craig giggled at the Doctor's shocked expression.

'Alright, a lesson about the beach. First of all, you need to be at the perfect angle from the sun. When tanning you need to make sure that you get the full blast of it, but not so much that you start burning. Plus you need to make sure you face it dead on, so that you don't end up tanned on only one side. Oh, and you can't wear sun-glasses because you get those horrible marks around your eyes' Rose started to explain. Craig bit down a laugh at the growing look of shock and confusion on the Doctor's face as he processed what she was telling him.

'But it's not all about the sun; you need to be a somewhere right at the edge of the crowd. That way you can have some peace and quiet to go to sleep if you want, but still be close enough to engage in conversation should a really fit bloke with a nicely tanned body by nearby. Also, if there's a beach bar, you want to be close enough to go get a drink when you want' she continued matter-of-factly.

'Yeah, I don't think they'll be any fit blokes that take my fancy' the Doctor rolled his eyes sarcastically.

'Err… excuse me, fit bloke, right here' Craig shot at him, gesturing at himself. The Doctor smirked slightly.

'I thought she said 'fit'' the Doctor grinned teasingly.

'Why you cheeky little…' Craig started but Rose cut him off, wanting to get back to her 'lesson'.

'AND finally, the sea. You need a be somewhere close enough to the sea and rocks that you can sit with your feet dangling into the water, without having to go too far from your spot, firstly in case you need something, and secondly, you don't want any bitch to come along and steal it' Rose finished her 'educational' speech.

'Has that happened?' the Doctor asked in surprise. Why would anybody bother to nick someone's spot on a beach? Oh of course, he was talking about humans!

'Connie Walsh, Rose's Mortal Enemy in school. She and Mickey went to the beach one day and ran into her, and got into an argument about a tanning spot. Connie started a fight and Rose clawed at her face, and made a rather deep gash there' Craig explained. The Doctor turned to Rose in surprize.

'What? That bitch had it coming!' she defended herself and the Doctor laughed.

'Anyway, later on Mickey went to get them some drinks, and whilst Rose was asleep, Connie dragged her towel, with Rose on it, onto a lilo and …' Craig paused to laugh here, and Rose shot him a shift glare that shut her big brother up quickly.

'And pushed it into the sea. I was three miles out to sea before I rolled over and fell off' Rose huffed and the Doctor roared with laughter. That was absolutely hilarious.

'It's not funny, I could've drown!' Rose protested, and after a few minutes, the Doctor managed to control himself again.

'Sorry, but it is funny though' he said, trying to suppress his laughter.

'Yeah… anyway, I got her back good' Rose muttered, still angry by the events from a few years before they had met the Doctor.

'Yeah, how?' the Doctor asked curiously. Knowing his Rose it was bound to be something good!

'Well, I sort of… snuck round to her flat at night and spray painted a large picture on the outside wall. A picture that wasn't really flattering' Rose shrugged.

'Do I even want to know want to know?' the Doctor chuckled.

'It was a picture of a cow, and underneath it said 'CONNIE COW', I still have the pictures somewhere' Rose said with a smile.

'Oh my god Rose! I'm surprized you didn't get arrested!' he laughed loudly.

'No evidence or I would've been. Anyway, enough about Connie Cow, we have the perfect spot to find' Rose changed the subject back to much more 'pressing' matters.

'Well what about over there?' the Doctor asked, pointing to a clearing in the group of family not far from them. It seemed, by his judgement, to have everything that Rose had listed in her criteria.

'Hum… not bad for a first try, not bad at all. Yeah, this looks good' Rose grinned at him as she set down everything in her arms. The Doctor let out a sigh of relief, the chair and umbrella _were_ heavy, before he set them down, Craig following suit. Working together, it wasn't long before they had their towels sprawled out; their chairs set up, and had the umbrella providing them with shade. Rose carefully positioned her chair just out of its reach so she was in the sunlight's path, before she went to her beach bag which had she kept fully stocked thanks to the Tardis. She dug around in it, before she found her sun cream.

'Here… can you do my back?' she asked Craig, offering him the bottle.

'Why not ask the Doctor?' he smiled innocently in reply, and frowning Rose turned to the now brightly blushing Doctor. He held a slightly shaking hand out, and Rose placed the bottle in it, before turning and carefully removing her shawl and hat. The Doctor gapped as he saw her swimming costume beneath it, how short it was and how much of her shoulders and back it showed off. Not that he was complaining in the slightest! He nervously squeezed some of into his hand, and began to slowly run his hands in circles over her exposed skin, trying not to find as much pleasure as he was in doing so. He blushed even more when Rose sighed, sounding very content with his hands moving up and down her body. It was quite clear, at least to Craig, that Rose was enjoying it just as much, and found it very embarrassing as well. As soon as he was done, she thanked him and turned away, trying to hide her blush before she decided to lie back in her chair and do her front herself, seeing as she had no excuse for the Doctor to do that too. The Doctor grumbled slightly before he moved over to Craig's side, who was silently shaking with held-in laughter.

'I suppose you think that's funny don't you Tyler' he hissed in the blonde man's ear.

'I did actually' Craig nodded with a very child-like smile on his face. He had clearly found it hysterical. The Doctor sighed slightly, before he smiled slightly. If he was being honest with himself, he should be thanking Craig for setting that little moment up, seeing as he loved those precious little moments with Rose, being normal with her, rather than the whole running for their lives moments. He shank down into a chair and picked up a book, one by Agatha Christie… hum… he'd like to meet her one day.

Craig giggled once more, before he leant back into his own chair, and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on his skin.

…

The Doctor had been enjoying his book immensely, but eventually he had tired of reading, and so he set it down on the towel before him. He had then taken to looking around the beach, before his face quickly turned to an angry scowl. Not far from them were two men, in their mid-twenties, looking very intently at Rose, and he didn't like it one bit. His scowl deepened when one of them came over and stood right in front of her.

He had very tanned skin and excellent muscles, and thick black wavy hair. He had a short goatee and moustache, and wore tight white shorts and an even tighter armless shirt, which the Doctor was annoyed to admit, was probably to show off his excellent physic. He coughed slightly to get Rose's attention, and when she looked up at him curiously he smiled, revealing perfect white teeth.

'Hola Senora, my friend and I were wondering if you would care to engage in a game of volley ball' he asked in a thick Spanish accent. Rose looked mildly surprized for a moment, before she smiled and stood up.

'Senor, I'd be delighted too' she nodded, and the man's grin widened. The Doctor looked about ready to knock the guy out, but then another idea came to him, and he stood up too.

'You don't mind if I join in too do ya?' he asked. Rose grinned, the idea of the Doctor playing volley ball sounded like a laugh, but the man looked less enthusiastic, but nodded none the less.

'Craig?' Rose turned to him.

'Oh, no thanks, I think I'll just watch from here' Craig smiled up at her, and so just Rose and the Doctor were led away by the Spanish man to where a large net had been set up. The Doctor and the man's friend were on one side, Rose and the first guy on the other. Craig smirked slightly as they started. Whatever the Doctor was up to would surely be good. And rightly so, in his opinion Rose was reserved only for the Doctor, and not some Spanish git like that guy.

…

Rose laughed happily as she smacked the ball back to the other side of the net. She'd always loved playing volley ball, and at the beach it was even more fun. She couldn't help but notice the way that the man, whose name turned out to be Donardo, kept grinning at her, and she felt herself blush slightly every time he did. Not that she was interested in him of course, but it was quite flattering considering he was very hansom.

Donardo's friend Javier missed the ball and Rose and Donardo cheered. The Doctor smirked slightly as he picked the ball up to start the game again. He very discreetly slipped the sonic out of his shorts' pocket and used it on the ball, making it slightly more aerodynamic so it would travel through the air faster. He quickly pocketed the sonic before anybody noticed, and threw the ball up. As it came back down, he smashed his fists into it as hard as he could, and sent it flying towards Donardo. Due to its increased aerodynamics, it shot towards him like a bullet, and when it hit him in the chest, he clearly hadn't expected such force to be behind it because it sent him flying backwards, causing him to land flat on his ass.

Rose noticed Craig laughing loudly from his position a few feet from them, and she quickly cast a suspicious glance at the Doctor, who merely shrugged innocently.

'Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you alright' the Doctor asked sweetly as he ran around the net and helped Rose help Donardo to his feet, winking at Craig as he went. The Spanish man quickly dusted himself off.

'I am fine' he said stiffly.

Right, do you wanna start' the Doctor asked innocently, offering him the volley ball. As he took it, they were about to get back to their positions, when they were all startled to hear a loud screaming. Turning to the direction it was coming from, they could see a little girl running up the beach, screaming at the top of her lungs. And it wasn't the type of screaming a child usually made, it was darker, shriller, a scream of pure terror.

Everyone on the beach was looking at the girl now, who was still screaming as she fall to her knees, howling loudly as she covered her ears, like there was something yelling in her ears. Blood was pouring down on side of her face, and Rose was about to go over to her, when a very concerned woman pushed her way through the crowd that had formed around the girl. Judging by their similar appearance, it was the little girl's mother.

'Sw…Sweetie?' the mother asked her weakly. The girl looked up at her in fear.

'No… no, get back, get away from me! I know what you are!' the girl shrieked, confusing everybody present. The mother took a step back, a look of great worry and also hurt lining her face.

'Doctor?' Rose whispered to him. The Doctor merely took at his sonic, and discreetly scanned the girl from a distance. He frowned as he looked at the reasons. Something wasn't right there.

'The little lost girl wanders in the woods, NEVER KNOWING THE BIG BAD WOLF IS RIGHT BEHIND HER! RIGHT BEHIND ME! INSIDE ME! INSIDE YOU! INSIDE EVERYONE!' the girl suddenly screamed before she began to laugh hysterically.

Craig, who had been trying to push his way through the crowds to get to the Doctor and Rose, stopped in his tracks. Again, always there, Bad Wolf, but he doubted he'd figure out what it meant here, after all, that little girl was in no fit state to tell anyone anything, well… nothing that would make sense. He'd just have to keep waiting until the Bad Wolf revealed itself for now.

'HE SWIMS AND CLIMBS AND FLIES, HE ROCKS THE BOATS AND STOPS THE TRAINS AND KILLS ALMOST EVERYONE' the girl was now singing at the top of her lungs. Everyone in the crowd looked more and more unsettled as she carried on her bizarre song that made no sense. Suddenly an elderly man approached the girl, and knelt down to look into her eyes. When he stood up again, his face was grim.

'I'm afraid the girl had lost her mind, she had been lost to insanity' he told the crowd, who all began chattering excitedly and nervously. The mother cried as she clung to her daughter, whilst the Doctor, Rose, and Craig all wondered what could possibly have happened on a fun relaxing beach to cause a young child like her to go insane.

**...**

**And there's part one. A nice little fluffy chapter to start off with. Now beaches have been mentions several times. Nine and Rose went to a frozen one on Woman Wept, Ten and Donna were going to go to a beach before going to the Library instead, and 11 took Amy to Space Florida with automatic sand. Neither of these were ever shown though (At least not to my knowledge) and I really wanted to write a chapter with the Doctor relaxing on the beach before it all goes to hell : ) I hope you enjoyed and please leave a review!**


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